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Ready to Pour the Jelly 



COOKERY FOR 
LITTLE GIRLS 



BY 



OLIVE HYDE FOSTER 




NEW YORK 

DUFFIELD & COMPANY 

MCMX 



X 



v: 






Copyright, 1910, 
By Duffield & Co. 



THE PREMIER PRESS 
NEW YORK 



©CIA275437 



DEDICATED 

To two of the dearest little girls that ever learned 
to cook. 



Preface 

This book has been prepared with the special 
purpose of assisting mothers throughout the 
country to train their small daughters in the art 
of cookery. Scarcely any child can be trusted 
to take a recipe and work alone, as the clearest 
directions need the watchful supervision of an ex- 
perienced woman, who can detect the coming mis- 
take and explain the reason for doing things in 
a certain way. 

All children like to experiment in the kitchen, 
and instead of allowing them to become an an- 
noyance, they should be so directed that their ef- 
forts will result in immediate help to the mother 
and prove invaluable life lessons to the little ones 
themselves. Nothing is really more pitiable than 
the helpless woman who, when occasion demands, 
finds herself unable to do ordinary cooking. And 
that young wife is blessed indeed who has been 
prepared for her duties in the home by a con- 
scientious mother. Therefore let no woman think 
it too much trouble to teach her child the prepara- 
tion of various kinds of food, impressing on her 



PREFACE 



at the same time the dignity and importance of 
the work. 

The following articles, though considerably 
lengthened and rearranged, were written at the 
request of the Editor, and ran for a year in Pic- 
torial Review; and the encouraging letters they 
elicited from women and children everywhere, 
prompted this publication in book form. The in- 
tention has been not to make a complete manual 
of cookery, but instead to create interest in enough 
branches to enable an otherwise inexperie/nced 
person to successfully put together any good 
recipe. Thanks are also due for the use of ma- 
terial appearing in The Circle and Harper's 
Bazar. 

Olive Hyde Foster. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. Good things for breakfast 
II. Using odds and ends 

III. Some easy soups 

IV. Fish, fresh and dried 
V. Simple meat dishes . 

VI. The interesting potato 
VII. Different kinds of vegetable 
VIII. For the unexpected guest 
IX. Rice and macaroni . 

X. Baking cake and bread 

XI. Desserts good in summer 

XII. The Thanksgiving dinner 

XIII. The Christmas dinner party 

XIV. Delicious home-made candies 
XV. Preserving 

XVI. Sandwiches and drinks 
XVII. A few more desserts 



PAGE 

1 

13 

23 

31 

37 

45 

53 

63 

73 

81 

95 

107 

117 

125 

131 

139 

145 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ready to pour the jelly . . . Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Preparing to make biscuit 3 

Creamed eggs 7 

Table set for Valentine luncheon ... 15 

Fresh vegetable salad 16 

Heart salad 20 

Green pepper salad 24 

Tossing up a salad 29 

Creamed codfish and coffee for Father's 

breakfast 35 

Veal cutlet as reed birds 38 

A standing roast of beef 43 

Cleaning up 51 

Cucumber jelly 59 

Table set for an Easter luncheon ... 64 

Creamed oysters in baskets 67 

Tray arranged for Welsh rarebit ... 69 

Compote of rice 75 

Icing the cake 83 

Tea cakes baked in heart shape .... 85 

Afternoon tea for two 92 

Fruit jelly with whipped cream .... 97 

Cornstarch pudding, small moulds . . . 103 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Dinner table with fruit centerpiece. Nuts 

and raisins in individual baskets . . 109 

Making pies 113 

Delicious home-made candies 126 

Marking the preserves . . . . . .132 

Marshmallow cream 145 

Charlotte Russe 148 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE 
GIRLS 

CHAPTER I 

Good Things For Breakfast 

Every mother should begin to instruct her lit- 
tle daughter at an early age in the different 
branches of housekeeping, and if taught in the 
right way, none will prove more attractive than 
cooking. When quite young the child will be 
eager to experiment, and generally will be care- 
ful ; and with many of the simple recipes she can 
scarcely make a mistake, and they will prove in- 
valuable to her later on. 

Cooking is of great educational value. Aside 
from giving a girl that knowledge necessary to 
the proper conduct of a home, in the dextrous 
handling of utensils and food products, the con- 
centration required, and the practice of doing cer- 
tain work for certain results, it also skives excel- 

(For these recipes, unless otherwise specified, make all 
measurements level. The use of measuring cups, divided 
into halves and thirds, is strongly urged, as well as the tea 
and table measuring spoons.) 

1 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

lent mental training and brings all-round de- 
velopment. Every girl should become a good 
practical cook; and in the majority of cases the 
mother, for many reasons, is the best teacher. 

EQUIPMENT 

The small cook should be provided with her 
own apron, sleeves and cap. Also attach to her 
belt a tea-towel and a small holder for lifting hot 
pans. This will make her feel more important and 
too, impress upon her the need of having every- 
thing clean and orderly. Then emphasize the ne- 
cessity of always following directions, and taking 
the pains to make each cupful an even cupful — 
each spoonful an even spoonful. The pan for 
baking should be thoroughly greased and set aside 
ready for use, after the fire has first been put in 
good condition, so that the oven will be right, and 
then all the cooking utensils and materials placed 
conveniently at hand. 

For the first lesson suppose the choice be bak- 
ing-powder biscuit. When properly made they 
are delicious, but from the number of times that 
otherwise good cooks fail on this point, I have 
come to the conclusion that the secret lies in the 
mixing) and handling. 



GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 




Preparing to Make Biscuit 
BAKING-POWDER BISCUIT 

Have the child place two even cupfuls of flour 
in the sifter, with two level teaspoonfuls of bak- 
ing-powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and then 
sift. To this add one rounded tablespoonful of 
lard. The little maid's hands and nails should be 
specially cleaned so she can work this thoroughly 
into the flour, and it may take her five minutes to 
do it properly. Next, dusting her hands, have 
her take a table fork and stir all the time as she 
adds the milk. Generally three-quarters of a cup- 
ful of milk is enough, but if the flour was packed 
in solid it may take a whole cupful. Mix up well 
with the fork into a soft dough, and turn out on 
a floured bread-board. She must not handle it, 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

even now, but sprinkle over just enough flour to 
keep the rolling-pin from sticking while she rolls 
it out until three-fourths of an inch thick. 

Next she should be shown how to cut into small 
rounds without any waste, for the dough that is 
left to be molded over will take up more flour and 
consequently be thicker and not so light. As each 
biscuit is cut it should be carefully placed in the 
pan, close to its neighbor, but not crowding, and 
when all are ready, popped into a hot oven for fif- 
teen minutes' baking. 

This lesson should be repeated in a few days, 
before the child has forgotten any of the details, 
and thereafter it is advisable to let her make the 
same dough, for different purposes, at least once 
a week for a while. For meat pies, dumplings, or 
shortcake, one-half the recipe will be plenty for a 
family of four, and she will feel that she has 
learned each time how to make a new dish. Pro- 
vide a small blank book and have her write down 
every recipe, with the full directions for mixing. 
This will be her very own, and as it grows will 
come to be a valued treasure. 

BAKED APPLES 

As cooked fruits are such nourishing food, let 
the child rjrerjare some kind while the biscuits are 

4 



GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 

baking — apples, for Instance. The oven being- 
hot, it is best to bake them, so show her how to 
wash, core and then fill each opening with sugar, 
cinnamon and a little butter. It will take only 
a few moments to prepare them, and while the 
baking is in progress the dishes that have been 
used should be washed and set in the closet, the 
materials left be put away. All must be in order 
before the lesson is pronounced over and the dish- 
pan wiped and put up. Where it is desired to 
serve the apples and biscuits at the same meal, 
the apples should be prepared first, as they take 
longer to bake. 



CORN BREAD 

Corn bread, too, is easy ror any child to make. 
Have her mix one and one-half cups of sifted 
flour, one-half cup of yellow corn meal, three ta- 
blespoons of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of 
salt and two teaspoons of baking powder. Add 
two well-beaten eggs, one cup milk, and one table- 
spoon of melted butter. Pour in buttered tin or 
gem pans, and bake in hot oven for fifteen or 
twenty minutes. 

5 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

MUFFINS 

Then next try muffins. Have her sift two cups 
of flour, one teaspoon of salt, and two teaspoons 
of baking powder. Add one cup of milk, two ta- 
blespoons of melted butter, and two eggs, with 
the stiff whites last. Bake in buttered muffin 
tins fifteen or twenty minutes in a hot oven. 

GRIDDLE CAKES 

If successful with these things, she will be quite 
sure with a little care to make good griddle cakes. 
Have her sift two cups of flour with two teaspoons 
of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, a ta- 
blespoon of sugar, and stir in the yolks of two 
eggs, well beaten, and a cup and a half of milk. 
When perfectly smooth, and just before baking, 
fold in the stiff whites. Grease a hot griddle with 
a piece of suet, put down a spoonful of batter at 
a time, and turn as soon as it bubbles well over 
the top. Watch carefully to keep from burning, 
but never turn a pancake the second time. 

After a girl has learned how to make biscuit 
and other light breads, she should be shown at 
once how to prepare eggs in different ways so that 
she will be able at any time to serve a dainty 
breakfast. 

6 



GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 




Creamed Eggs on Toast 



BOILED EGGS 

To boil an egg would seem to be the easiest 
matter possible, but it requires care just the same. 
Scarcely any two people in a family like eggs 
cooked the same length of time, and so, after 
ascertaining the way each one prefers, have the 
water boiling hard, and then check by adding a 
little cold water so that the shells will not crack 
from the heat. Put in the eggs carefully with a 
tablespoon, to prevent striking each other, boil 
the required number of minutes and remove each 
when its time is up, sending to the table at once. 
Hard boiled eggs, to be digestible, should be kept 
just at the boiling point for thirty minutes. The 
yolks will then be mealy. 

7 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

POACHED EGGS 

Poached eggs should be dropped in buttered gem 
pans and then set in a deep dripping-pan and 
covered with boiling water. When boiled as long 
as desired, lift gently on to rounds of buttered 
toast, sprinkle with salt and pepper, garnish with 
parsley or small celery leaves and serve on a hot 
platter. 

PLAIN OMELET 

For an omelet for four people, separate yolks 
and whites of five eggs. Beat yolks very light, 
add one-quarter teaspoonful salt, pepper, five ta- 
blespoonfuls milk, and lastly the whites, beaten 
very stiff. Mix lightly, but thoroughly, and pour 
in well-buttered hot frying-pan, place on stove 
about two minutes until well puffed up, then put 
in oven for a moment until firm on top. On re- 
moving, fold omelet over with a cake-turner, place 
on a hot plate and garnish with parsley. 

FANCY OMELETS 

After the little daughter has mastered this pop- 
ular dish, show her how to make it into a fancy 
one by adding various things. A small quantity 
(half a cupful) of chopped ham stirred in before 
8 



GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 

cooking, converts it into a ham omelet, a cupful 
of cold boiled rice mixed thoroughly through the 
uncooked eggs, a rice omelet, while a cupful of 
chopped meat — or better, chopped chicken — will 
make a meat or chicken omelet. A delicious green 
corn omelet has the pulp from two ears of green 
corn, grated from the cob, added just before 
cooking. This should be given a slower fire and 
more time. For a cheese omelet, sprinkle half a 
cupful of grated cheese over the eggs after they 
are cooked before folding over. 

OMELET GARNISHING 

The wise mother will suggest to the young cook 
that instead of always using one recipe she try to 
think of some way of improving or varying it. 
A few green peas left from dinner can be made 
hot and sprinkled over an omelet the same way 
as the cheese, or the cup of stewed tomatoes 
left from the day before be strained, thickened 
with a teaspoonful of flour, seasoned with butter, 
pepper and salt, and served as a sauce, this mak- 
ing a delicious accompaniment to a plain omelet. 

CREAMED EGGS 

Take the desired number of hot hard-boiled 
eggs, cut in quarters, lay on pieces of hot but- 

9 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

tered toast, and cover with white sauce. This 
makes a most appetizing dish for breakfast or 
luncheon. Garnish with parsley. 

DEVILLED EGGS 

Put on in hot water, simmer for half an hour, 
then place in cold water to loosen shells. When 
cold, cut in half, remove yolks, mash, and season 
with salt, pepper, a dash of prepared mustard, 
and a teaspoonful of vinegar, with a half tea- 
spoonful of soft butter for each egg. Rub to a 
smooth paste, and pack back in the whites. For 
picnics, fasten two halves together with a wooden 
toothpick. 

SCRAMBLED EGGS 

Beat the desired number enough to break the 
yolks, season with salt and pepper, and add a ta- 
blespoonful of milk for each egg. Put in a hot 
pan half a teaspoonful of butter for each egg, and 
when melted, pour in the beaten eggs. Stir con- 
stantly, scraping from the bottom of the pan 
until cooked enough to suit individual taste, but 
watch closely, for the longer they cook the drier 
they become. Garnish with parsley or with dried 
beef, frizzled in a hot skillet with a small quan- 
tity of butter. 

10 



GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 

BACON AND EGGS 

Place thin slices of bacon in a hot skillet, turn 
frequently to keep from curling, and remove to a 
hot plate when cooked as much as desired. Break 
eggs in a saucer, one at a time, to see that they 
are fresh, then drop gently into the hot fat. When 
done to suit individual taste, lift carefully to the 
center of a hot platter, and garnish with the 
bacon. 

The secret of an attractive table, which should 
be made clear to every girl, is clean linen, with 
dishes and silver carefully arranged. Each ar- 
ticle of food, however simple, should be carefully 
placed in the center of its dish, and vegetables, 
meats and salads garnished with parsley, celery 
leaves, or occasionally rings of hard-boiled eggs. 
The eggs are especially nice on salads and on 
such a vegetable as spinach. 

A kitchen lesson would be incomplete without a 
few words regarding the care of the all-impor- 
tant dish-towels and dish-cloth. However many 
may be on hand, it is a wise plan to teach the lit- 
tle cook to take warm water and plenty of soap 
and wash them out each time, being careful to 
rinse them thoroughly after she is through. Then 
hang out in the air to dry. 
11 



CHAPTER II 

Using Odds and Ends 

Every mother, in teaching 1 her little daughter 
to cook, should impress upon her two essential 
points — economy and neatness. A cook cannot be 
too careful to have her materials, her utensils, and 
herself as clean as possible. So, before beginning 
work, the child should carefully wash her hands, 
clean her nails, smooth up any stray locks of hair, 
and put on the cap, sleeves and apron that are to 
protect her from spots and flying flour. Then all 
fruits or vegetables which are to be used should 
be well washed before being peeled, and the cook- 
ing utensils wiped off. Sometimes the pans or the 
stewing kettle have not been used for days, and 
there is sure to be a certain amount of dust on 
these that is almost imperceptible, but neverthe- 
less unwholesome and often dangerous. 

Following the instructions regarding cleanli- 
ness, and of equal importance, is the lesson in the 
economical use of materials on hand. Anyone can 
13 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

take a recipe calling for all fresh materials and, 
with a little care, turn out a successful dish; but 
it takes a culinary artist to successfully work up 
the odds and ends found in the ice-box and pan- 
try. In small families these bits can be made into 
attractive dishes for luncheon, or, in case of an 
unexpected guest, converted into an additional 
course. In the line of vegetables, for instance, 
there may be left a few leaves of lettuce, a couple 
of tomatoes, the remains of a roast, a small quan- 
tity of chicken, and a bottle of sour milk. Not 
very promising, certainly, in the ice-box, but full 
of possibilities. The little cook is going to be a 
magician, and by a wave of her wand (the cook- 
book,) make a grand transformation. 

COTTAGE CHEESE 

First the sour milk ! Not attractive as sour 
milk, but most delicious as cream cheese. Set one 
quart of sour milk on the stove where it will warm 
slowly, and let stand until the curd and whey sep- 
arate. Spread a piece of cheese-cloth or an old 
napkin over 1 a colander, pour in the curds and let 
drain until quite dry. This may take a couple of 
hours, and it is a good plan to warm the milk 
while getting the supper and then let stand all 
14 



USING ODDS AND ENDS 




A Table Set for a Valentine Luncheon 
night. Next put the curds in a bowl and rub to 
a paste with one teaspoonful of butter, a salt- 
spoonful of salt and a tablespoon ful of cream. 
When smooth, mold into little balls if to be 
served with a salad. 



NUT CHEESE CRACKERS 

Nut cheese crackers are most appetizing, too, 
made by spreading this cheese on small saltine 
crackers, and sprinkling chopped nuts over the 
top. Any child will delight to make these, and 
while easy and cheap, they are attractive enough 
15 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



to serve any company. Or, the cheese can be 
served, French fashion, with a little heavy cream 
and a small quantity of richly preserved currants 
or cherries, (Bar-le-duc,) for dessert. 




Fresh Vegetable Salad 

STUFFED PEPPERS 

If there is too little of the roast to serve sliced 
cold, it can be chopped fine, seasoned well with 
salt and pepper and moistened with the cold 
gravy. If the quantity is still too small, it can be 
increased by adding a beaten egg and half a cup- 
ful of dried bread-crumbs. This works into a nice 
dish by taking sweet green peppers, splitting in 
half, washing and removing the seeds, and then 
16 



USING ODDS AND ENDS 

packing with the minced meat. Bake until pep- 
pers are tender, about half an hour, then remove 
from oven, lay on squares of hot toast, and cover 
with white sauce or warmed-over gravy. 

WHITE SAUCE 

Good white sauce is needed for so many differ- 
ent kinds of vegetable, fish and meat dishes, that 
a child should be taught it at the beginning of 
her work. Have her melt one tablespoon of but- 
ter and stir in one tablespoon of flour. When 
smooth, add slowly one cup of milk, stirring all 
the time to keep from getting lumpy. If lumps 
do form, however, before the child has learned the 
secret of mixing, she can strain after it has cooked 
five minutes. Season with quarter-teaspoon of 
salt and a dash of pepper. For brown sauce, sim- 
ply brown the flour and butter before adding the 
milk. 

CREAMED CHICKEN 

A small quantity of chicken is often left from 
dinner, yet not enough to serve cold. Let the 
mother show the child how to cut off every bit of 
meat from the bones — and she will get more than 
she expects from wings and necks. But all pieces 
of fat and skin must be discarded. Then for a 

17 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

hot dish, making a white sauce first, she can stir 
in the minced chicken, let it cook a few moments, 
and serve on rounds of buttered toast. 

CHICKEN CROQUETTES 

Still another way, if the quantity is small, is to 
add to one cupful of chopped chicken one-half 
cupful of rolled bread-crumbs, a half cupful of hot 
milk, two well-beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of 
chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. 
This is to be shaped into croquettes, dipped in 
rolled bread-crumbs, beaten egg, crumbs again, 
and browned in hot fat. 

White sauce served on the side will make it 
doubly attractive ; and if the quantity is still small 
for the number to be served, it will go farther and 
be made more savory if garnished with curls of 
crisp bacon. 

CHICKEN SALAD 

If a cold dish is desired, let her add an equal 
amount of finely cut celery, season with salt and 
pepper, moisten with cooked salad dressing, and 
she will have a delicious chicken salad. To be 
particularly nice, however, she should use only the 
white meat. 

18 



USING ODDS AND ENDS 

Our little cook should be taught the first thing 
how to make a good salad dressing, for into a 
salad it is almost always possible to turn the left- 
overs that otherwise might be thrown out. Only 
one other thing (soup) will use up as many scraps 
in making nourishing as well as appetizing dishes. 

BOILED SALAD DRESSING 

As many people do not care for the flavor of 
oil, a nice easy dressing is made by taking two 
tablespoonfuls butter, rubbed to a cream, to which 
is added one teaspoonful salt, one-half teaspoon- 
ful mustard, a dash of red pepper, and one cupful 
hot milk. Stirring well, this should immediately 
be poured on the beaten yolks of three eggs, and 
then cooked in a double boiler until thick. Re- 
move from the fire, add one-quarter of a cup of 
vinegar, and stir until cool. When to be used 
in fruit salads, add half a cup of thick cream just 
before serving. But eggs and milk curdle if 
boiled. 

FRENCH DRESSING 

Easily made is the French dressing, and often 
prepared at the table. To one-quarter teaspoon- 
ful of finely minced onion, add one-half teaspoon- 
ful salt, a little black pepper, a few grains of 
19 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

Cayenne and six teaspoonfuls olive oil. Stir well, 
add two teaspoonfuls vinegar, and mix thor- 
oughly. 

FRESH VEGETABLE SALAD 

To make the best of the few vegetables we have 
found on hand, wash the lettuce carefully (look- 
ing cut for the tiny green bugs found on some 
kinds,) and arrange on a plate. Peel and slice 
the two tomatoes, and lay lightly on the lettuce, 
with a few bits of celery, several radishes or some 
thin slices of cucumber if available, and cover with 
salad dressing 




Heart Salad 

For the heart salad illustrated, cut cold boiled 
beets into heart-shaped sections, and serve on let- 
tuce hearts, with French dressing. 
20 



USING ODDS AND ENDS 

COOKED VEGETABLE SALAD 

Small quantities of cooked vegetables, such as 
beets, string beans, asparagus, peas and boiled 
potatoes, make a nice salad cut into small pieces, 
laid on lettuce leaves and covered with French 
dressing. But they must be thoroughly chilled. 

CABBAGE SALAD 

Cabbage salad is possible at all seasons of the 
year, and should be one of the first that the child 
should learn to make. Insist on getting small, 
perfect heads, and have the leaves removed one at 
a time, examined closely and washed as carefully 
as lettuce, for fear of worms. After chopping 
finely, the desired quantity is to be seasoned with 
salt and pepper and served on the small, tender 
white leaves, with the following dressing: 

SOUR CREAM DRESSING 

To half a cup of thick sour cream, add half a 
teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of sugar, a 
dash of black pepper, and two teaspoonsful of 
strong vinegar. 

FRESH FRUIT SALAD 

Almost all kinds of fruit are used in salads. 
Bananas and oranges, alone or together, are 
21 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

served on lettuce with the cream salad dressing, 
as are also the skinned and seeded white grapes. 
Pineapple and grapefruit are delicious with head 
lettuce, served with the French dressing contain- 
ing but a few drops of the onion juice. Then 
again, all may be combined, served with either 
dressing preferred, and improved by the addition 
of a few nuts. 

WALDORF SALAD 

For four people have the little cook take four 
pretty red apples, cut a slice off the top, and 
after removing the core, carefully cut out with a 
teaspoon the inside of each without breaking the 
skin. Taking half the scooped-out apple, she must 
add an equal amount of celery (cut in small 
pieces) and chopped English walnuts, one tea- 
spoonful salt and boiled dressing enough to cover. 
After tossing up lightly with a fork pack in the 
apple shells, and when possible serve in nests made 
of lettuce cut in strings. 

GREEN PEPPER SALAD 

Take sweet green peppers, cut a slice from the 
top, remove seeds, and fill with either the mixed 
vegetables or diced cucumbers, covered with 
French dressing. Serve on lettuce. 
22 



CHAPTER III 

Some Easy Soups 

Every little cook should early be taught how 
to make a variety of soups, as many small quan- 
tities of food can be utilized in this way that oth- 
erwise might be wasted. 

STOCK 

Take, for instance, the bones and small trim- 
mings from steaks, chops or a roast, and the rem- 
nant of a chicken. These, with a five-cent soup 
bone, will make the stock, which is the foundation 
for a great many kinds of soup. If part of the 
scraps have been fried or roasted, so much the 
better, as then the stock will be a delicate brown 
and have even a richer taste. The meat, cut in 
small cubes, with the bones well cracked, should 
be covered with twice the quantity of cold water 
and allowed to stand for several hours. 

CLEAR VEGETABLE SOUP 

Any kind of vegetables on hand can be put in 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 




Green-Pepper Saead 
at the same time, a small onion cut in slices, a 
little chopped carrot, turnip, a few string beans 
cut in inch lengths, half a cupful of peas, a couple 
of stalks of celery, a few sprigs of parsley, to- 
gether with three or four cloves and salt and pep- 
per to taste. If these vegetables with the meat 
fill the kettle one-third full, then it can be filled 
to the top with cold water. After standing sev- 
eral hours it should be placed where it will heat 
slowly and allowed to simmer for two hours, then 
strained and set aside to cool and let the grease 
come to the top. When it is cold the cake of fat 
can easily be lifted off. 

CONSOMME AND BOUILLON 

Then to make the finest kind of perfectly clear 
soup, stir into each two quarts of cold stock the 



SOME EASY SOUPS 



beaten white and crushed shell of one egg, place 
on the fire and keep stirring until it boils. Allow 
to cook without stirring for twenty minutes, after 
which set aside for ten minutes ; skim and strain 
through a cheese-cloth bag. This may seem like 
a good deal of work, but if the soup is first boiled 
in the morning while cleaning up the kitchen and 
then clarified while getting dinner, it will not re- 
quire much time nor trouble, and the result will 
be a delicious consomme or bouillon. It is called 
bouillon if made principally of beef with vegeta- 
bles, and brown in color; it is consomme if made 
of uncooked meat and bones, including veal and 
chicken, and consequently light in color. 

PLEASING VARIATIONS 

Stock made thus can be simply reheated or 
changed to any desired kind of soup by the ad- 
dition of a particular garnishing. For rice soup, 
either a few teaspoonfuls of uncooked rice or half 
a teacupful of cold boiled rice can be added ; for 
vegetable soup a cupful of mixed vegetables cut 
in small pieces can be put in and boiled until ten- 
der. Macaroni, broken in inch lengths, washed 
and then cooked in the stock until it is done makes 
a nice change, called Italian consomme, while a 
25 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

cupful of tomatoes will convert it into a tomato 
soup. If the additions suggested are to be made, 
however, it is not necessary to clarify the stock. 
It takes common sense to make good soup, as well 
as time and patience, and one must learn to be 
guided by the taste if trying to use up left-overs 
instead of following a regular recipe. 

Cream soups, however, do not require any stock, 
and so are easily and quickly made. They are 
delicious, too, and something any bright girl could 
make while her mother got up the rest of the din- 
ner. They take the name of the kind of vegetable 
used, but all are put together in about the same 
way. 

CREAM OF CELERY 

For cream of celery take two cupfuls of diced 
celery, using the leaves, ends and coarse pieces not 
good enough to send to the table uncooked. Cover 
with two cupfuls of cold water, season with salt 
and allow to cook until tender — about twenty min- 
utes. While this is boiling the little maid mixes 
in another pan two tablespoonfuls of melted but- 
ter with two tablespoonfuls of flour. Placing it 
over the fire, she adds three cupfuls of milk and 
stirs for five minutes while it boils. After season- 
ing with salt and pepper and a dash of red pep- 
26 



SOME EASY SOUPS 



per, pour in the strained water from the cooked 
celery and boil all gently on the back of the stove 
for five minutes before serving. 

PEA AND ASPARAGUS 

For cream of pea soup, simply substitute two 
cupfuls of cooked peas that have been pressed 
through a colander. For cream of asparagus 
boil up first two cupfuls of the tough ends of the 
asparagus that would not do for the table, or 
take two cupfuls of the water used in cooking the 
asparagus for dinner and put with the thickened 
milk. But in order to avoid giving the family the 
same vegetable twice at a meal, it is best to save 
the asparagus water or the celery ends until an- 
other time, putting in the ice-box to keep fresh. 
We all like variety, and in this way it can be had 
without extra expense. 

CREAM OF POTATO 

Cream of potato soup is made by adding two 
scant cupfuls of mashed potato to the milk foun- 
dation given. Some people like the addition of a 
half-teaspoonful of onion juice to flavor or a ta- 
blespoonful of chopped bacon. If too thick it can 
be thinned with some of the boiling potato water. 
27 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

It is advisable for the mother to have the child 
make a certain cream soup twice in close succes- 
sion to be sure that she thoroughly understands 
the process, and then make each of the other kinds 
soon after, so that she will get used to using up 
whatever left-overs she finds on hand. 

BLACK BEAN SOUP 

Black beans make a particularly nice soup for 
a company dinner. To two cupfuls of the dried 
beans use four cupfuls of cold water and let stand 
over night. Next day add two cupfuls of boiling 
water and cook until the beans are perfectly ten- 
der, with one small chopped onion, three cloves, 
salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne. Melt two 
tablespoonfuls of butter, stir in two tablespoon- 
fuls of flour, add a cupful of cold water ; cook the 
same as the milk foundation and add to the beans 
after they have been put through a colander. Boil 
up well together, stirring to blend well. Put a 
couple of thin slices of hard-boiled egg and lemon 
in each plate and pour the hot soup in. If de- 
sired, the soup can be additionally flavored with 
a small wineglassful of sour wine. 

CREAM OF TOMATO 

Before leaving the soup question, let me say 
that the cream of tomato is made by heating two 

28 



SOME EASY SOUPS 



cupfuls of canned tomatoes to the boiling point, 
then straining, and after adding a good-sized, 
pinch of soda, which must be stirred in well, poured 
slowly on to the milk foundation, prepared in 
another vessel. This must be served immediately, 
as it is not so good when allowed to stand. 




Tossing Up a Salad 

DELECTABLE GARNISHES 

Instead of always serving the ordinary crack- 
ers, teach the child how to prepare some simple 
little; extras for nice soups. Plain square crackers 
spread with butter, salted and then browned in 
the oven will tastej quite different ; another time let 
her grate the least bit of cheese over before the 
29 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

toasting. Or she can take stale bread, cut in long 
narrow strips, spread with butter, season with 
salt and pepper and bake a light brown in a slow 
oven. Croutons, too, are a welcomed variety, 
made by cutting bread in half-inch cubes, dipping 
in melted butter and frying crisp. A few of these 
are scattered on top of each plate of soup just 
before sending to the table. Such extras require 
but little time, yet they mark the experienced 
cook ; and if our small maid has been paying due 
attention to her directions (and consequently get- 
ting good results in her work,) she ought now to 
be so interested that she will be eager to try every 
new dish suggested and desirous of making the 
greatest possible number of dishes out of each 
particular kind of food. 

Now let us review and see what we have out of 
the odds and ends that we found that we had on 
hand to start with, and what a luncheon it would 
make. We should have either a soup or the stuffed 
peppers for a first course, salad for a second, and 
the cheese crackers served with a small quantity 
of jam or preserves for a finish ! Quite a nice meal, 
and one we need not hesitate to set before an un- 
expected guest. Besides, from any reasonable 
quantity of left-overs there would probably be 
enough for four people. 
30 



CHAPTER IV 

Fish, Fresh and Dried 

Fresh fish, in the first place, must be; absolutely 
fresh. They will have little odor, the eyes will be 
full and clear, and the flesh firm. They are usually 
delivered from the market cleaned and scaled, but 
they should be washed with cold water, and sprin- 
kled with salt if not used immediately. 

SMELTS, TROUT AND PERCH 

Smelts, trout, perch and other small fish, are 
fried whole, while the larger kinds are cut in pieces 
called fillets. After washing, drying and season- 
ing with pepper and salt, each piece should be 
dipped in finely rolled, dried bread or corn meal, 
and laid on the bread-board. When all through, 
beginning with the first, dip each one in well- 
beaten, seasoned egg, and then in the crumby 
again, taking pains to have them covered com- 
pletely. Lay back on the board to dry before 
cooking. Heat a half cupful of lard in a skillet 
31 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

until smoking hot, then put in the fish and fry on 
one side until brown. Turn carefully to avoid 
breaking, and brown on the other side, but do 
not turn more than once, and watch to keep from 
burning. Many cooks use flour or rolled crackers 
for covering the fish, but the bread crumbs do 
not hold as much grease, and the fish always seem 
to fry better than when dipped in anything else. 
When cooked a deep, rich brown, lift out on to 
brown paper to drain, and then slip on to a hot 
platter and send to the table at once, garnished 
with slices of lemon, parsley or water cress. 

HALIBUT 

A halibut steak is fine when, after washing 
thoroughly, it is put in a dripping pan, seasoned 
with salt and pepper, covered with boiling water 
and cooked in the oven until done, — from twenty 
minutes to half an hour. While it is cooking, our 
little maid can prepare her favorite white sauce, 
only now she must add a cupful of strained toma- 
toes and season with red pepper. When the fish 
is ready, she must serve it on a hot platter, cov- 
ered with the hot sauce. A steak of this kind 
usually weighs about two pounds, and is ample 
for four or five people. 

32 



FISH, FRESH AND DRIED 

WHITE, WEAK AND BLUE 
FISH 

White fish, weak fish, blue fish and similar kinds 
I like best when large enough to have the bones 
first removed and the fish then spread, skin down, 
on a wire broiler, or an oak plank. Spread with a 
little butter and seasoned with pepper and salt, it 
may be cooked in a gas stove or before a hot fire. 
This will take from twenty to thirty minutes. 
When thoroughly done and browned on top, gar- 
nish with roses of mashed potato, lemon or pars- 
ley, and serve immediately, — right on the plank 
if desired. Any left over can be picked into small 
pieces, and worked up with an equal amount of 
cold mashed potato, into cakes, to be fried for 
breakfast. 

There are many kinds of smoked and canned 
fish that make specially appetizing dishes for 
breakfast or luncheon. They should always be 
kept in the house, with other shelf supplies, and 
will prove " a friend in need." 

FINNAN HADDIE 

Finnan Haddie can be served in several ways. 
After washing and wiping off with a cloth, it can 
be buttered, seasoned with salt and pepper and 
33 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

either broiled or fried. Or it is even better if 
boiled first for five minutes (put on it cold water), 
then picked into small flakes and stirred into our 
little maid's standby, white sauce. After cooking 
five minutes longer, it should be served on rounds 
of hot buttered toast, garnished with parsley. 

SMOKED FISH 

Smoked halibut, salmon and sturgeon can all be 
bought in small pieces (even as little as half a 
pound), and| are most inviting when cut into thin 
slices and made hot in a skillet with just enough 
butter to keep them from burning. 

SALT COD 

But in talking of dried fish, we must not forget 
our old favorite, creamed codfish. As the boxed 
codfish is always so salty, it is necessary, after 
picking it carefully apart and removing the bones, 
to let it soak in cold water for half an hour, then 
drain. Put half a cupful of fish on in a stewpan, 
cover with cold water and let come to a boll. Pour 
this off immediately, cover with fresh boiling wa- 
ter, and let gently simmer for ten minutes. While 
it is cooking, our small maid should rub to a 
smooth paste one tablespoon of flour and one ta- 
blespoon of butter. Then adding one cup of milk 
and one well-beaten egg to the codfish, she next 
34 



FISH, FRESH AND DRIED 

puts in the paste, and continues to stir for five 
minutes more while it is cooking. It should then 
be served on rounds of hot toast. 




Creamed Codfish and Coffee for Father's 

Breakfast 

35 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

SALT MACKEREL 

Salt mackerel should be covered with cold water 
and left skin side up to soak over night. For 
breakfast, dry in a cloth and broil, with the flesh 
side toward the fire, or else brown in a hot pan 
with a little butter, and serve on a hot platter 
garnished with slices of lemon. 

I have purposely avoided giving recipes calling 
for frying in deep fat, as there is always more or 
less danger of an inexperienced child meeting with 
an accident in handling any quantity of melted 
lard, but mothers who wish to use it will find that 
fritters, fish and other things when cooked that 
way get a nice color and really take up less fat 
than when fried (sauted) in the more common 
style. 



36 



CHAPTER V 

Simple Meat Dishes 

Here let me put in a few words about some easy 
ways of cooking meat. The recipes are simple, 
but everything depends on your getting in plenty 
of seasoning, cooking as directed, and — not burn- 
ing. Be sure to have veal, lamb and pork well 
done, as no one likes these rare or even pink, but 
study the family taste about the length of time to 
cook beef. I have purposely omitted the ordinary 
dinner meats (I couldn't tell you everything in 
one little book!), but if you learn to make what 
I do tell you about, you will certainly become a 
good cook. 

PAN-BROILED LAMB CHOPS 

Lamb chops are particularly nice pan-broiled. 
First scrape off any fine particles of bone, trim 
off superfluous fat, and then place in a hissing 
hot skillet. Turn often until well seared, to pre- 
vent escape of juices, and cook until brown, about 
ten minutes. Serve on a hot platter, season with 
37 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

salt and pepper, dot with butter, and garnish 
with uarsley, peas, or a ring of mashed potatoes. 

PORK CHOPS 

Pork chops need to be thoroughly cooked, and 
after washing, I always parboil ten minutes first 
in a covered frying pan, then season with salt and 
pepper and brown in fat. They are often served 
with tomato sauce. 




Veal Cutlet as Reed Birds 



VEAL CUTLETS 

The veal for this purpose, sometimes called 
Mock Reed Birds, should be sliced thin, then cut 
in four-inch squares. Spread lightly with butter, 
sprinkle with salt and pepper, and scatter with 
finely minced parsley and celery, or either one 
alone. Roll each piece up tightly and tie with a 
38 



SIMPLE MEAT DISHES 

piece of white string. Place " birds " in a hot 
skillet with a little water and melted butter, cover 
and simmer for twenty minutes, then brown in 
butter or fat as preferred. Serve on rounds of hot 
buttered toast, with brown gravy. 

BEEF STEW (BROWN) 

Take one pound of round steak, cut in small 
pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put a 
little suet in a hot kettle, or melt two tablespoons 
of butter, and add a couple of slices of dry onion, 
turning frequently until brown, then put in the 
meat. Stir to keep from scorching until well 
seared on all sides, cover with boiling water, and 
set on the back of the stove to simmer for at 
least three hours. As it boils down, allow to brown 
before filling up again, and have the meat covered 
with the broth when done. Thicken with two 
tablespoons of flour stirred to a smooth paste in 
half a cup of cold water. Add more salt then if 
necessary. Send to the table in a covered dish, 
and serve with mashed potatoes. 

SOUTHERN BAKED HAM 

When there is going to be company, baked ham 
is one of the nicest kinds of meat that can be 

39 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

had. Take either a small end or half a ham, as 
needed, and soak several hours in cold water. 
Wash well and put on in a kettle with cold water 
to cover and boil slowly, allowing at least twenty 
minutes to the pound. After boiling half an 
hour, remove one-third the water, and fill up with 
fresh boiling water, and keep covered until done. 
Then set aside and allow to cool in the liquor. 
When cold, lift out, trim off the brown skin, cover 
the fat with brown sugar, stick with whole cloves, 
and bake brown — about twenty or thirty min- 
utes. This is delicious either hot or cold. 

BEEFSTEAK 

Different kinds of steak need to be cooked in 
different ways. Tenderloin, porterhouse, and sir- 
loin are best broiled over a hot fire, or pan broiled 
by being turned frequently on a very hot skillet, 
with only the fat that comes from the steak itself. 
Serve on a hot platter, with butter, pepper and 
salt. Round steak is nice cut in small pieces, sea- 
soned with salt and pepper, rolled in flour, and 
cooked quickly in some of the suet, first put in the 
pan until tried out. Lift browned pieces of the 
steak (for this needs more cooking than tenderer 
meat), on to a hot platter, add a little butter to 
40 



SIMPLE MEAT DISHES 

the fat in the pan, stir in a scant tablespoon of 
flour, stir well until smooth and brown, then pour 
in quickly a cupful of cold water, and continue to 
stir until well thickened. This gravy will be 
smooth and of nice flavor, and can be poured over 
the meat. Season, of course, with salt and pep- 
per to taste. 

HASH 

Hash, though a dish often laughed at, is al- 
ways appetizing when well made. Corn beef hash 
indeed has quite a reputation, and is made by 
chopping cold corn beef rather fine, adding an 
equal quantity of cold boiled potatoes, chopped, 
wetting with enough boiling water to keep from 
burning, seasoning with salt, pepper and a little 
butter, and then allowing to cook gently for at 
least twenty minutes. All kinds of hash need to 
simmer for quite a while, in order to blend the 
navor of the meat and the potatoes, and give the 
delicate taste that marks a carefully prepared 
dish. Beef, particularly browned scraps, finely 
minced 1 , and mixed with an equal quantity of 
minced cold boiled potatoes, seasoned and pre- 
pared as just directed, is very good for breakfast 
served on rounds of buttered toast. And either 
41 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

kind can be allowed to brown down in the pan 
and then turned out on a hot plate, rolled over 
with a nice thick crust. Any kind of meat can 
be used, however. 

LAMB PIE 

A lamb pie is an attractive way of using up 
small pieces of cold lamb. Cut off all scraps and 
gristle, and add enough cold gravy to cover. Sea- 
son well with salt and pepper, and simmer twenty 
minutes. Take a pudding dish, invert a small 
cup in the bottom, pour in the hot meat, add half 
a can of peas, cover with a crust of light biscuit 
dough, and bake until brown. Before sending to 
the table lift crust and remove cup, which has 
drawn up the gravy. Serve with either mashed 
or baked potatoes. 

DRIED BEEF 

Dried beef dressed in cream is always an appe- 
tizing dish and very quickly made ready. The 
child should first take a half-pound of chipped 
beef and tear it into small pieces, removing all 
strings and fat. Then put in a stew-pan, cover 
with cold water and let come to a boil. While 



SIMPLE MEAT DISHES 

it is heating, however, she should stir smooth 
one tablespoonful butter land one table- 
spoonful flour. When the water boils on the 
beef she must pour off half (or it will be too 
salty)*, and add an equal amount of milk. Into 
this stir slowly the mixed butter and flour, season 
with pepper and let boil until thick. Some peo- 
ple like the addition of two well-beaten eggs, but 
I prefer the beef plain, with the gravy rather 
thick, served on rounds of hot buttered toast. 
The toast could be made first and set where it 
will keep warm, and thus save the time of making 
afterwards, for a dish of this kind cools very 
quickly, and should be sent to the table as soon 
as ready- 




A Standing Roast of Beef 
43 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

ROAST BEEF 

A roast of beef, after being scraped and wiped 
free from all particles of sawed bone, should be 
seasoned well with salt and pepper, and dredged 
with flour. Put it in a hot oven, and when it has 
seared on top, to keep in the juice, turn over and 
allow to sear on the bottom. Then pour in the 
pan enough boiling water to keep from burning, 
and baste frequently. Allow about one hour for 
a five pound roast rare, and an hour and a half 
to cook well done. Serve a rib roast, left on the 
bone, standing as shown in the illustration, gar- 
nished with parsley. 



44 



CHAPTER VI 

The Interesting Potato 

Every girl should know how to cook potatoes 
properly ; yet really there is scarcely any other 
one vegetable that can be prepared in so many 
ways and still is often so poorly cooked as to be 
practically unfit to eat. It would seem an easy 
thing to make a light, appetizing dish of mashed 
potatoes — and what is more inviting? — but how 
often are they served wet and soggy! To under- 
stand the right way to cook and serve potatoes 
is as much an art as to make a salad or bake a 
cake. 

BOILED POTATOES 

Plain boiled potatoes, with the skin on, are de- 
licious when cooked as they should be. The req- 
uisite number should be selected, perfect in form 
and uniform in size, and scrubbed with the vege- 
table brush, but the skins not broken. If they 
are old they will be better for soaking half an 
hour in cold water. A half hour before dinner- 
time, if they are of medium size, they should be 
45 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

covered with boiling salted water and placed on 
the stove, where they will boil gently, not hard, 
until the skins begin to crack open. Test with 
a fork, and as soon as they are tender, drain off 
all the water and set on the back of the stove to 
steam dry. Serve in a hot, open vegetable dish ; 
and if there is company or you are very particu- 
lar, remove the skins (without breaking the pota- 
toes) just before sending to the table. In case 
there is to be fish or a meat dish without gravy, 
serve the potatoes with the white sauce our little 
cook was taught to make in one of her first les- 
sons. 

MASHED POTATOES 

For mashed potatoes the mother should tell the 
child to pick out the imperfect ones, or those too 
large to bake, to be peeled and cut up. Have 
her put them on in boiling salted water half ah 
hour before dinner-time, cook until perfectly ten- 
der, then drain and let steam dry. After stand- 
ing a few moments (in a hot place), have her 
mash them thoroughly, first with an old-fashioned 
wooden masher until all the lumps are removed, 
and then with a wire one. To each cupful of 
potato add a teaspoonful of butter and a table- 
spoonful of hot milk. They should be beaten up 
46 



THE INTERESTING POTATO 

creamy with the wire beater, then turned out into 
a hot covered dish, with a lump of butter in the 
center and a sprinkling of pepper over the top, 
and served at once. 

If dinner is delayed, however, and there is 1 dan- 
ger of their getting cold, have her put them in a 
baking-dish or tin, smooth them nicely over the 
top and set where they will keep warm. Then 
when needed, if she will grate a little cheese over 
the top and put in the oven for a few minutes to 
brown, she will find that they are even nicer than 
when first made. The mashed potatoes left from 
dinner can be worked up with a little cream and 
molded into small round cakes, to be fried brown 
next morning. 

CREAMED POTATOES 

Often in buying potatoes one finds a quantity 
of little ones usually considered " too small to be 
bothered with." They seem hardly worth peel- 
ing, but if scrubbed clean and boiled as directed 
the skins can be removed quickly when they are 
tender. Then if a white sauce is made, these lit- 
tle potato balls can be dropped in and served 
garnished with finely chopped parsley on top. 
This is a favorite way of preparing new potatoes 
and most appetizing. 

47 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

LYONNAISE POTATOES 

If the mother prefers, she can have the child 
take these little balls (peeled after they are 
cooked), cut them up fine, and fry them as fol- 
lows : In a hot pan melt two tablespoonfuls of 
butter and add a teaspoonful of finely chopped 
onion, which should be cooked until a delicate 
brown before the seasoned potatoes are added. 

CHEESE POTATOES 

Parboil sliced potatoes, or slice cold boiled ones, 
line the bottom of a baking dish, sprinkle with 
salt, pepper, a little flour, grated cheese, and 
dots of butter. Repeat until the pan is nearly 
full, cover with milk, sprinkle the top with the 
grated cheese, and bake until brown, or about 
half an hour. Cheese potatoes are particularly 
good served with cold meat. 

BAKED POTATOES 

Potatoes for baking should be of uniform, med- 
ium size and perfect. After being well scrubbed 
they should be wiped dry and put in a moderate 
oven three-quarters of an hour before meal-time. 
If the meal is delayed for any reason they should 
be pricked with a fork in several places to let out 
48 



THE INTERESTING POTATO 

the steam, and then set where they will keep hot, 
but not in a covered dish, or they will get wet 
and soggy. 

STUFFED POTATOES 

If it is necessary to keep them any length of 
time, cut off the end of each potato, scrape out 
the inside, season with salt, pepper, a little but- 
ter, a small quantity of cream and to every three 
potatoes one egg, the white beaten stiff. After 
whipping up light put back in the shells, where 
they will keep warm. Just before sending to the 
table, put in the oven for a few moments, until 
they puff up and brown at the ends. 

FRIED POTATOES 

Cold boiled potatoes can be used in so many 
different ways that where there is no servant in 
the house it often is a saving of time and labor 
to boil a quantity at one time and then heat up 
as needed. They are nice simply sliced thin and 
fried brown in butter. 

HASHED CREAM POTATOES 

If this is considered too rich, half the amount 
of butter will be sufficient to flavor and keep from 
scorching, and then when they brown as they are 
49 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

hashed in the pan pour in a few spoonfuls of 
cream. Season well, allow to brown down again, 
then fold like an omelet and serve on a hot plat- 
ter garnished with parsley. 

SCALLOPED POTATOES 

Scalloped potatoes are very nice for a supper 
dish, as they can be prepared early in the day 
and set away until needed. The little cook, after 
washing and peeling her potatoes, next cuts them 
in thin slices, enough to fill the dish needed and 
parboils in salted water for ten minutes. Then 
drain. Arrange a layer of these, with a sprin- 
kling of flour, pepper and salt and a few small 
pieces of butter, repeating in layers until the pan 
is full. Pour over enough milk to cover. When 
ready to cook, allow half an hour for the baking, 
and from time to time add a little extra hot milk. 
It is well to set a large pan containing water 
under the baking-dish to catch any milk that 
might boil over and burn on the bottom of the 
oven. 

CANDIED SWEET POTATOES 

Sweet potatoes that have been boiled are par- 
ticularly nice when cut in half, buttered, seasoned 
50 



THE INTERESTING POTATO 

with very little salt and pepper and then sprinkled 
over the top with granulated sugar and browned 
in the oven. " Candied sweet potatoes " they are 
called when served in hotels as something 1 extra. 




Cleaning Up 



51 



CHAPTER VII 

Different Kinds of 
Vegetables 

A mother can make the cooking of potatoes 
and the plainer vegetables interesting if she will 
use a little tact and stimulate the child's desire 
to make, first, as many different dishes from each 
article as possible, and second, to make them as 
appetizing as she can. Doubtless many a girl 
who will not eat plain food now could be taught 
to like things by getting her interested in cook- 
ing, for then she has to taste and make sure she 
has seasoned properly. 

TURNIPS, CARROTS 

Such winter vegetables as turnips, carrots and 
parsnips should be well washed, peeled, cut in 
small pieces and cooked in boiling salted water 
for sixty minutes, more or less, depending on the 
age of the vegetables, as the older they are the 
longer they will take to get tender. When suf- 
53 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

ficiently cooked they should be drained and may 
then be mashed, seasoned with pepper and salt 
and butter and served in a hot covered dish. Or 
if preferred they can be left in the cubes and 
served with our little cook's favorite white sauce 
poured over. If mashed they are to be served on 
the dinner plate, but if in cream sauce they will 
have to be put in individual sauce-dishes. 

PARSNIPS 

Plain boiled parsnips are delicious if cut in 
slices and fried in butter, as they acquire a sweet- 
ness not brought out in any other way of cook- 
ing. If the left-over quantity is mashed, it can 
be made into little flat cakes and browned in but- 
ter. The child should be encouraged to think of 
as many different ways as possible and then al- 
lowed to experiment and see the result. 

WINTER SQUASH 

Winter squash is good prepared in the same 
way as the mashed parsnips — that is, plain 
boiled and then mashed, but I prefer the Hubbard 
variety, cut in large squares and baked in the 
shell — without being peeled. Season before put- 
ting on the oven shelf, spread with a little butter 
54- 



VEGETABLES 



and add a slight sprinkling of granulated sugar. 
This will take about three-quarters of an hour 
to bake, and should be a light brown over the 
top. The child may have some difficulty in cut- 
ting a Hubbard squash, as it is so hard, but she 
can prepare it after it has been cut for her. 

DRIED LIMA BEANS 

Put to soak half a pound of dried Lima beans 
in a small quantity of cold water. Next morn- 
ing set where they will simmer slowly for two 
hours in salted water enough to cover. At din- 
ner-time drain, and serve on the dinner plates 
simply seasoned with butter, pepper and salt. Or, 
if preferred, they can be served in sauce dishes, 
with white sauce. 

BOILED CABBAGE 

A nice way to serve cabbage hot is to chop 
fine after it has soaked half an hour in cold 
water, put on in boiling salted water, and cook 
in an open kettle with a pinch of soda, about 
forty minutes or until tender. Then drain and 
serve immediately with butter, pepper and salt, 
or with white sauce. Some people prefer to add 
simply a little vinegar, so find out the family 
taste. 

55 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

BAKED BEANS 

For a small family, soak one pint of the small 
navy beans over night, and next morning boil 
gently until nearly tender. Drain, throw away 
that water, and add a teaspoonful of salt, a table- 
spoon of molasses and a cupful of boiling water. 
Cut a quarter of a pound of salt pork in small 
pieces, put half of the beans in a baking dish, add 
a layer of half the pork, fill up with the rest of 
the beans and lay the rest of the pork around 
over the top. Cover the beans with boiling water, 
put a tin over the dish, and bake a number of 
hours, — the longer the better. As the water 
boils away, add enough more to keep from burn- 
ing, and half an hour before serving, uncover 
and allow to brown over the top. If a slow fire 
is going in the range, the beans will be the bet- 
ter for cooking most of the day, but they must 
be wr.tched to keep from burning. However, they 
will taste very fine if boiled longer at first, — 
until perfectly tender, and then baked only an 
hour. 

CREAMED ONIONS 

Peel off the outside skin, cover with boiling 
water, cook five minutes, drain, and cover with 

56 



VEGETABLES 



fresh boiling water, well salted. Cook until ten- 
der, the length of time depending on the size, 
then drain and serve in a hot covered vegetable 
dish with white sauce, made while the onions were 
cooking. 

BAKED ONIONS 

First boil as above directed, then lift into a 
piepan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place a 
small lump of butter in a little hole on top of 
each, and bake until brown. 



ASPARAGUS 

With the coming of the spring vegetables will 
be opened a new field for the child to explore. 
Asparagus, one of the first in the market, is con- 
sidered one of the choicest, and it is also one of 
the most easily prepared. To retain all the deli- 
cate flavor many people think it should be served 
plain. For this, tie the asparagus in bunches, 
after washing carefully and snapping off the 
tough ends. Set upright in a deep kettle and 
pour over boiling salted water enough to reach 
nearly to the tips, but do not cover. The ten- 
57 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

der ends will cook enough at first, for ten minutes, 
in the steam, and then the bunches should be 
turned down sideways for thirty minutes more. 
Lift carefully with a skimmer, allowing the water 
to run off, lay on a hot platter, remove the strings 
and serve immediately with tiny lumps of butter 
and a dash of pepper over the top. Or the as- 
paragus can be first cut in small lengths, boiled 
until tender in salted water, then drained, laid 
on hot toast and covered with cream sauce. As 
mentioned before, the water in which it has been 
cooked can be set away to be used for soup, with 
a few tips added if desired. 

CUCUMBER JELLY 

Take one pint of well-seasoned bouillon, and 
while still warm, add the quantity of gelatine 
stated on the package necessary to make one pint 
of jelly, and when thoroughly dissolved, set away 
until it begins to stiffen. Then slice one cucum- 
ber, after peeling and ridging the sides, season 
with salt and pepper, and lay in vinegar for a 
moment. Rinse out the mould in cold water, lay 
around the cucumber in any pattern desired, and 
fill up the mould with the thickening jelly. Leave 
on ice after set, until ready to serve. 
58 



VEGETABLES 




Cucumber Jelly 



STRING BEANS 

Wax or string beans should be snapped in 
small pieces and all strings removed, then washed 
and put on to boil in hot salted water. Cook 
until tender (generally this requires about forty 
minutes), drain and serve in a hot dish with but- 
ter, pepper and salt, or, if preferred, the cream 
sauce. Our young cook will have many oppor- 
tunities to use her recipe for white sauce with 
the spring vegetables, for almost all kinds are 
improved when it is added. 

PEAS AND LIMA BEANS 
Peas and Lima beans, after being shelled and 
covered with salted boiling water, are cooked un- 
59 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

til tender (forty to sixty minutes) and then 
served either plain, as directed for the beans, or 
with the cream sauce, which, by the way, is bet- 
ter for such vegetables if thinned with more milk 
than when used in other ways. 

CAULIFLOWER 

Cauliflower, after being carefully washed, 
should be tied up in a piece of cheese-cloth to 
keep the shape, and after soaking for an hour 
in cold water, cooked in boiling salted water at 
least half an hour. When tender, it should be 
carefully lifted to the vegetable dish and the 
cream sauce poured around the base. A little 
chopped parsley scattered on top the sauce im- 
proves the appearance. 

BEETS 

Young beets have to be washed carefully to 
avoid breaking the skin, and have roots and half 
an inch of the tops left on while cooking. They 
should be kept covered with salted boiling water, 
and cooked until tender, allowing at least an hour 
for new beets, and possibly even three for old. 
When perfectly tender (on being tried by the 
prong of a kitchen fork), remove from the fire, 
60 



VEGETABLES 



drop into cold water for a moment to cool enough 
to slip off the skins, and then slice in a hot dish. 
They can be served plain, with butter, pepper 
and salt, although our grandmothers preferred 
the addition of a few spoonfuls of warm, thick 
cream. Many, however, like a little vinegar in- 
stead. 

TOMATOES 

Baked tomatoes are made by taking the fresh 
tomatoes, scooping out the centers and mixing 
with bread crumbs, seasoning with butter, pepper 
and salt, and then refilling the shell, sprinkling a 
few crumbs on top. They require about twenty 
minutes to bake, and can be served on rounds of 
toast, with cream sauce. In winter, however, 
canned tomatoes, alternated with layers of but- 
tered bread, seasoned with butter, pepper and 
salt, are nice baked in a dish, with crumbs 
browned over the top. 

GREEN CORN 

Green corn " on the cob " must first have the 
husks and silk carefully removed and then be 
dropped into boiling salted water and kept boil- 
ing (under a cover) for from ten to twenty min- 
utes, according to the age of the corn. If very 

61 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

fresh and tender, it will cook quickly, but it 
should be served as soon as removed from the 
water. 

CORN OYSTERS 

Any corn left from a meal can be grated off 
the cob and used for corn oysters. To one cup- 
ful of corn, add half a cup of milk, one beaten 
egg, half a teaspoon of salt, and one tablespoon 
of melted butter. Into this stir one-half cup of 
sifted flour, and bake like pancakes on a hot, 
well greased skillet. Be careful to avoid too hot 
a fire or they will scorch on the bottom before 
cooking through, and they must not be raw in 
the middle. It may be necessary to put a little 
extra butter in the pan when they are turned, 
but they have to be watched carefully all the 
time. 



62 



CHAPTER VIII 

For the Unexpected Guest 

Entertaining can be made easy by some fore- 
thought, and a little girl should be made to 
realize that hospitality, of all things, should 
be genuine. In the case of expected company it 
is well to get whatever is needed in plenty of 
time, but the unexpected guest should receive 
none the less cordial greeting while the house- 
keeper hurriedly reviews her resources in the way 
of material available. 

One of the most important lessons to teach the 
little girl is that of making simple dishes so at- 
tractive that no hesitation need be felt in asking 
friends to share the family fare. This is par- 
ticularly true in the case of dishes for supper. 
They should not require much extra work, but 
be quickly prepared and preferably of what one 
happens to have in the house. For a light sup- 
per it is desirable to have one hot dish, beside a 
warm bread, cold meat, fruit, cake and tea. 

If the child has become proficient, she should 
be allowed as a special favor to make the baking- 
63 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 




64 



FOR THE UNEXPECTED GUEST 



powder biscuits by herself. Have her use a small 
cutter not more than two inches in diameter, as 
small biscuits are more appetizing; and be sure 
to have them baked to a light brown. 

POTATO SALAD 

Potato salad makes a good chief dish for the 
unexpected guest and is easily prepared. The 
child should be told to select medium-sized pota- 
toes, — at least one for each person — and after 
scrubbing with a brush to get perfectly clean, 
put on with boiling water enough to cover and 
boil gently until tender, then drain and set aside 
to cool. This can be done at dinner time, when 
the fire is hot, and save extra trouble. When 
the potatoes are cold the skins can be easily re- 
moved, and the potatoes then cut in thin slices. 
Next she should peel and cut in very thin slices 
one small onion (unless the family taste prefers 
more) and arrange the alternate layers of sliced 
potatoes and onions, well seasoned with salt and 
pepper, in a pretty salad bowl. It looks at- 
tractive, too, tossed lightly on lettuce leaves ar- 
ranged on a small platter. Over the whole then 
pour the boiled salad dressing, or the French, 
as the family prefer, and when the potato salad 

65 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

is ready to serve it should be garnished with 
sprigs of parsley and slices of hard-boiled egg. 

SCALLOPED OYSTERS 

Scalloped oysters make a fine supper dish on 
a cold night, and there are several ways they can 
be prepared. The one I like best I will give first. 
The child should butter a number of thin slices 
of bread and spread on the bottom of a dripping- 
pan, laying on next a layer of oysters, with pep- 
per and salt ; then another layer of the thin but- 
tered bread, another layer of oysters, and the 
top finished with a layer of bread, well seasoned. 
Over the whole pour the oyster juice and one- 
half cupful of milk. This will require from 
twenty to twenty-five minutes in a hot oven, when 
the bread on top will be toasted crisp. Many 
people like scalloped oysters prepared with crack- 
ers, and in that case the rolled cracker-crumbs 
are used instead of the bread, but the taste of 
the two dishes is different. 

CREAMED OYSTERS 

Cook one pint of oysters in their own liquor 
or in a few spoonsful of salted water until they 
curl at the edges. Have ready a thick cream 
66 



FOR THE UNEXPECTED GUEST 

sauce, stir in the oysters, and cook a few mo- 
ments longer. Serve in baskets made by remov- 
ing the inside of the light rolls, brushing with 
melted butter and browning in the oven. Make 
handles from crust, and insert after filling. 




Creamed Oysters in Baskets 



FRIED OYSTERS 

To fry oysters, select large, choice ones, and 
dry in a napkin. Taking one at a time, roll in 
cracker crumbs, season with salt and pepper, dip 
in beaten egg, and cover thoroughly again with 
the rolled cracker. Spread out on a bread board 
and allow to stand a little while for this covering 
to set, then cook either in a skillet with a small 
amount of butter, or in deep fat, until lightly 
browned. Lift on to a piece of wrapping paper 
67 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

to drain, but keep hot, and serve garnished with 
parsley and sliced lemon. 

WELSH RAREBIT 

This is another good dish for an evening sup- 
per. Crumble half a pound of grated cheese, 
and put in a chafing-dish or a double boiler. Sea- 
son with half a teaspoonful of salt, half a tea- 
spoonful of prepared mustard and a dasli of red 
pepper. When it begins to melt, stir constantly, 
and as soon as it begins to look the least bit 
" stringy," pour in slowly a quarter of a cup of 
cream and one beaten egg. As this blends, add 
a teaspoonful of butter, cook until smooth, and 
serve immediately on rounds of hot toast or 
square soda crackers. 

FRITTERS, APPLE AND BA- 
NANA 

Fritters help out nicely, too, for company, 
and can be fried in a small quantity of very hot 
fat instead of in the deep fat if mother prefers. 
Sift one cup of flour, add one-quarter teaspoon 
salt, a tablespoon sugar, two-thirds of a cup of 
milk, one tablespoonful melted butter, and the 
yolk of one egg, beaten light. Stir to a smooth 
68 



FOR 


THE 


UNEXPECTED 


GUE 


ST 




r ,-..- 












Tray Arranged for Welsh Rarebit 
batter, add the stiffly beaten white, and lastly 
several sour apples, cut in thin slices, or three 
bananas, cut a little thicker. Drop by the spoon- 
ful in the smoking hot fat, set where they will 
not scorch, and if in a frying pan, turn over as 
soon as brown around the edges. Serve with 
powdered sugar. 

MILK TOAST 

Put on in a double boiler two cups of milk, one 
tablespoonful of butter, salt to your own taste, 
and allow to come to a boil. Have ready four 
squares of nicely browned toast, put in a hot 
vegetable dish, pour over the milk, clap on the 
69 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

cover, and serve at once. Some people like the 
milk thickened with a teaspoonful of flour that 
has first been moistened with a little cold milk, 
but I prefer it without. 

Every housekeeper should impress on her young 
daughter the importance of keeping on hand a 
small quantity of canned goods to provide for 
the unexpected guest, and this should include 
sardines, salmon, shrimps, lobster, French peas, 
olives and orange marmalade. These things will 
all keep for months in a cool place, yet are in- 
dispensable in an emergency. The can of 
shrimps, opened and placed in cold water for a 
little while, will taste as good as the fresh, and 
the salmon, with the skin and bones removed, will 
be ready on short notice to be served in a num- 
ber of ways. 

CANNED FISH SALADS 

For salad, take either shrimps, lobster or sal- 
mon, and after breaking in small pieces, add an 
equal amount of celery, season with salt and 
moisten with salad dressing. Serve on lettuce. 

CREAMED CANNED FISH 

If our small cook wishes to serve a hot dish, 
however, in a hurry for company, she can make 
70 



FOR THE UNEXPECTED GUEST 

to use with her canned fish, the favorite white 
sauce. For this she must first melt one table- 
spoonful of butter and add to it one tablespoon- 
ful of flour, a quarter teaspoonful of salt, a dash 
of pepper, and lastly, after mixing well, one cup- 
ful of milk, stirring all the time until thick. After 
boiling two minutes put in the can of lobster, 
shrimps or salmon, broken in small pieces, and 
allow to boil gently for three minutes more. Then 
serve on rounds of buttered toast, garnished with 
parsley. 

SARDINE CANAPES 

If only sardines happen to be left in the re- 
serve stock and yet something hot is needed, let 
the mother show the child how to make that 
rather unusual dish, sardine canapes. After re- 
moving the bones and tails, the sardines should 
be rubbed to a paste and mixed with an equal 
quantity of chopped hard-boiled eggs, seasoned 
with salt and pepper, a teaspoonful of lemon juice 
and half a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. 
Then she must cut circles of bread, toast or fry 
them brown in butter, and spread on the sardine 
paste. Send to the table immediately, garnished 
with circles of the hard-boiled white of egg. 



71 



CHAPTER IX 

Rice and Macaroni 

BOILED RICE 

Rice is one of our must nutritious foods, and 
it can be served in such a variety of ways it is 
one of the fisst things a child should be shown 
how to prepare. The very easiest (and cheap- 
est) way is to wash and drain a cup of rice and 
then sprinkle it slowly into two quarts of boil- 
ing salted water. Without stirring, set it where 
it will simmer slowly, and by the time it has 
boiled down thick it should be tender enough to 
crush with the tongue. If not, add a little more 
boiling water and allow to cook a while longer, 
but if it is not stirred the grains will be whole 
and the rice will not stick to the pan as long as 
there is water enough to keep from burning. If 
it is to be served plain, with only cream and 
sugar, add a teaspoonful of butter and stir 
through lightly just before turning out in the 
dish for the table and sprinkle a little ground 
cinnamon over the top. This makes an easy and 
generally very acceptable dessert. It is particu- 
78 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

larly nice if turned first into cups to mold, and 
then served on a small dish with a spoonful of 
jelly or some preserve over the top. 

CASSEROLE OFRICE 

Rice cups are made by lining small well-greased 
baking-cups with the rice half an inch thick and 
filling with any kind of cold meat, chopped fine 
and seasoned. A thin layer of the rice is then 
spread over the top and the cups baked in a mod- 
erate oven for twenty minutes. By running a 
knife around the edge when done they can be 
turned out when cooked, and may be served on 
hot toast with either warmed-over gravy or to- 
mato sauce. 

RICE CUPS, (DESSERT) 

The rice cups will be delicious for dessert, if 
instead of using cold meat they are filled with 
mince meat or raisins that have lain in cold water 
until they have swelled. When baked they are 
to be turned out on sauce dishes and served with 
a sauce made by creaming one-third cupful of 
butter with one cupful of brown sugar, flavoring 
with half-teaspoonful vanilla and heating in a 
double boiler until hot and creamy. 
74 



RICE AND MACARONI 




Compote of Rice 

COMPOTE OF RICE 

Take plain boiled rice, pack lightly in small 
cups, and put in a warm place for an hour to 
set. Turn put molded, and send to the table gar- 
nished with any kind of rich preserves, — prefer- 
ably such large fruits as peaches, pears or plums. 

Rice nicely cooked is often served in place of 
a vegetable and eaten with a fork from the din- 
ner plate like mashed potatoes. It is a good 
thing for the little cook to learn all the different 
ways of cooking it, as often a small quantity left 
from one meal would prove most acceptable for 
another, if prepared differently. 



FRIED RICE 

The plain boiled rice intended to be served like 
75 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

a vegetable or for a simple dessert might not all 
be used. If a cupful were left it could be cut 
in thin slices and browned in butter for break- 
fast, or it could be stirred into the soup made 
from the left-overs, as described in one of our 
former lessons. The little maid must learn to 
use all her odds and ends, and a good way to 
teach her would be to ask her what she thought 
could be prepared from the small quantity of 
food left from a meal. While often there might 
not be enough for the whole family, there might 
be plenty for the few that happened to be home 
for the noon luncheon, or perhaps only enough 
for the school lunch that after a while gets to 
be such a hard thing for mother to fix up " in 
a different way." 

RICE PUDDING 

Rice pudding is one of the first desserts a child 
should learn to make, as it is so little trouble and 
always a favorite. She should first beat up thor- 
oughly two eggs ; add half a cupful of sugar, two 
cupfuls of milk, a little nutmeg, and stir through 
two cupfuls of cooked rice. If the rice has been 
standing long enough to stiffen, then, after wash- 
ing her hands, she will have to work the rice 
through the custard with her fingers in order to 
76 



RICE AND MACARONI 

remove any lumps. A half cupful of raisins or 
dried currants stirred in after the pudding is in 
the baking-dish will make it just that much nicer. 
In baking, leave in the oven until the pudding is 
firm, which will show when a silver knife stuck in 
the middle comes out clean. A custard is never 
baked enough that sticks to the knife and leaves 
it milky. 

BOILED MACARONI 

As there are many days, especially in sum- 
mer, when macaroni can well take the place of 
meat, it is desirable that the small maid be taught 
how to prepare it attractively. 

The macaroni is first broken in small pieces, 
washed and then boiled in salted water until ten- 
der — about twenty minutes. It can be tested 
with a fork. It is very good if simply drained 
when cooked, sprinkled with salt and pepper, dot- 
ted with lumps of butter and sent to the table 
piping hot. 

MACARONI WITH CHEESE 

Or it can be taken from the boiling water, put 
in a colander, rinsed with cold water, then ar- 
ranged in a baking dish in alternate layers with 

71 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

grated cheese. Over the top pour one cup of hot 
milk in which has been stirred a teaspoon of but- 
ter and a beaten egg. This must be baked a 
light brown as quickly as possible, and served at 
once. It is not so good after it has stood. 

If preferred, a cupful of white sauce can be used 
instead of the milk and egg. 

MACARONI WITH TOMATO 

For baked macaroni with tomato, have the lit- 
tle cook put in her baking dish first a layer of 
the cooked and rinsed macaroni, then a layer of 
tomatoes, either fresh or canned, but well sea- 
soned, then another layer of macaroni, then one 
of tomatoes, and on the top sprinkle rolled bread 
crumbs. Scatter tiny lumps of butter all around, 
season again, and bake a light brown in a quick 
oven 

MACARONI PIE 

But if she finds that she has a small quantity 
of cold meat on hand, beef, veal or chicken, she 
can put one layer of that through the middle of 
the macaroni, and she will have a surprise for 
her family — delicious, too. This is quite nice for 
wash-day dinner when it can be served with baked 
potatoes, at little cost of time or trouble. 
78 



RICE AND MACARONI 

In a series of cooking lessons of this kind, it 
is manifestly impossible to include directions for 
preparing all kinds of food, but I have outlined 
the work with the idea of teaching the children a 
great variety of dishes, believing that their suc- 
cess with these will stimulate them to try by them- 
selves recipes found elsewhere. 



!T9 



CHAPTER X 

Baking Cake and Bread 

The child who has been assisted in preparing 
the various dishes given in our previous cooking 
lessons, and who has learned to follow directions, 
will now be eager to undertake different kinds of 
baking. The mother should impress on the lit- 
tle student that the first essential to success is 
correct measurements, and the second, careful mix- 
ing. For cake baking a graduated tin cup, 
marked in quarters and thirds, is almost a ne- 
cessity, as different people's ideas vary so as to 
what constitutes a quarter or a third. If the 
cup is at hand, however, and is used in taking 
all the measurements, there can be no mistake. 
And a cupful means a level cupful, not heaping; 
a teaspoonful a level spoonful, not a rounded 
one, unless so specified. 

BAKING PREPARATIONS 

Before beginning the work, the child should 
read over her recipe and lay out all ingredients 
81 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

needed. She should have the mixing bowl on the 
table with the mixing spoon, the teaspoon and 
tablespoon for measurements, and the measuring 
cup. The cake pan, wiped off, warmed and 
greased lightly with lard, is next set aside, ready 
for use. 

Then the fire must be in good condition. If 
a gas stove is used it will take only a few mo- 
ments to heat the oven properly, but if wood or 
coal is the fuel, the mother must show the child 
how to prepare the fire, so as to have the oven 
the right temperature and on time. The old way 
of having it as hot as one can stand the hand 
while counting twenty, is a fair test. 

As small cakes bake more evenly and quickly 
for the inexperienced cook, it is a good idea to 
let the child put her cake dough in muffin tins. 
A mixture that might fall and seem a failure if 
put in a loaf and not properly baked, will often 
come up very nicely in gem pans ; and, besides, 
the small cakes appeal more to the childish fancy. 
A nice one-egg cake is made as follows : 

TEA CAKES 

One-third of a cup of butter, one cup of sugar, 
one egg, one cup of milk, two cups of sifted flour, 
two level teaspoonfuls of baking powder, half a 
89 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 




Icing the Cake 
83 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

teaspoonful of vanilla, and half a cup of cur- 
rants. 

DIRECTIONS FOR MIXING 

First the child should measure her flour while 
her cup is dry, and adding the baking-powder, 
sift it on to a paper or in an extra bowl, and set 
it aside, ready for use. Next she can measure 
the even cupful of sugar into the mixing bowl, 
add an even one-third cupful of butter, and rub 
together to a creamy mass. If the butter has 
been standing a while in the kitchen, it will be 
warm enough to work up nicely. Then she must 
separate the egg, beating the white stiff and the 
yolk until it is foaming. Adding the beaten yolk 
to the butter and sugar, she again stirs thor- 
oughly, and then begins adding — a little at a time 
— first the milk and then the sifted flour, stirring 
evenly all the while. Put in the vanilla the stiffly 
beaten white of egg, with the currants, mix- 
ing as little as possible, and pour out into the 
greased gem pans. If the oven is right, the bak- 
ing will take from fifteen to twenty minutes, but 
if the oven seems too hot, leave the door slightly 
open for about five minutes. An old-fashioned 
way of finding out when the cakes are well baked 
84 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 

is to try with a new wooden toothpick. If it 
comes out clean and dry the cakes are done. 

On removing from the oven, loosen around the 
bottom edge (the cakes should have shrunk from 
the sides), and turn on to a bread board. When 
cold, they can be iced with the following simple 
icing : 



^P^^ 














|K~ ■■• 


"* ... 






wr - <jm, 














_ 












A " ___. 




„ 


. „ .. jf -. • 




'"A'j 


IV 


VfZS& 





Tea Cakes Baked in Heart Shape 



WHITE ICING UNCOOKED 

Two tablespoonfuls milk or cream, enough con- 
fectioner's sugar to make a thick paste and half 
dozen drops of vanilla. In spreading, if the icing 
does not go on as smoothly as desired the silver 
knife used for spreading can occasionally be 
dipped in a glass of cold water. 
85 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

COCOA ICING 

When the child has followed this recipe sev- 
eral times successfully, she can then try baking 
it in two cake tins. When done and cool, she 
can put the layers together with the same icing, 
to which, by adding two teaspoonfuls of cocoa, 
she will have a nice chocolate filling. When the 
cocoa is used, she will need a trifle more milk or 
cream. 

GINGER COOKIES 

After the child has fully mastered this recipe, 
let her next try some ginger cookies. To a half 
a cupful of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, 
half a cupful sour milk, half a cupful of sugar, 
and one-third cupful of melted butter add one 
well-beaten egg 9 three cupfuls of flour, with one 
tablespoonful of ginger. This will make a thick 
mass which is to* be turned out as soft as can be 
handled, half at a time, on a well-floured bread 
board. The child must then flour her rolling- 
pin to keep it from sticking, and roll as thin as 
desired. She should thoroughly grease the drip- 
ping pan and then cut out her cookies and lift 
carefully into place, one just touching another. 
The oven should be quite hot for these as they 
86 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 

ought to bake quickly ; and on removing from 
the oven, they should stand a moment in the pan 
before being lifted on to a plate. 

SPICE CAKE 

For an inexpensive spice cake, take one-half 
cup of butter, one cup of sugar, one egg, (white 
beaten separately), one and one-half cups of flour, 
two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, half a cup 
of milk, one-quarter teaspoonful ground cloves, 
one-quarter teaspoonful nutmeg, one teaspoonful 
cinnamon, half a teaspoonful vanilla. Cream the 
butter and sugar, add yolk of egg and beat very 
light. Sift flour and baking powder, and stir 
in alternately with the milk. Add spice and fla- 
voring next, then the stiff white, and bake either 
in gem pans or in a loaf. Half a cupful of 
seeded raisins or currants will be an improvement. 

WARM GINGERBREAD 

Stir together half a cup of molasses, half a 
cup of brown sugar, one teaspoonful of soda, one 
beaten egg, two tablespoons melted butter, half 
a cup of milk, two cups of flour, one tablespoon- 
ful of ginger, teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-quar- 
ter teaspoonful cloves, and a little nutmeg. Mix 
87 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

in the order given, pour in greased shallow pan, 
and bake from fifteen to twenty minutes. 

When the little cook has learned to follow the 
foregoing recipes so that she understands all the 
details of mixing and is able to make nice light 
cakes, let her some time try the following, which 
by using the whites for a delicate cake and the 
yolks for a gold cake, will give her two choice 
cakes without extra expense. After bringing to 
the table, when ready to begin, the sugar can, 
the butter jar, the egg dish, the milk, the vanilla 
and the baking powder, so that everything will be 
convenient, and having well greased a pan for 
the gold cake (which will be baked 1 in a loaf) and 
the two jelly tins for the white cake, she can 
then separate three eggs, and to the three yolks 
add one whole Qgg. On account of the baking 
it is best to make the white cake first, and then 
it can be iced and the dishes cleaned away while 
the loaf cake bakes. 

WHITE CAKE 

One even half cupful of butter and an even 
cupful of sugar, creamed until it is light and 
foamy. To one and one-half cupfuls of flour 
88 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 

add two level teaspoonfuls baking-powder, and 
sift several times. Then into the creamed but- 
ter and sugar pour one-half cupful milk, al- 
ternately, a little at a time, with the flour. Be- 
fore putting in the last of the flour, stir extra 
well, then put in one teaspoonful vanilla and the 
stiffly beaten whites of the eggs, mix as little 
as possible, to stir through, and then add the 
last of the flour. Bake either in a loaf or in two 
layer tins. The layers can be put together when 
cold with either the icing already given or this 
chocolate frosting: 

CHOCOLATE ICING 

To one cup of granulated sugar add one-third 
cup of boiling water, and stir to dissolve until 
it begins to boil, but no longer. Cook until it 
hairs from a spoon, then pour slowly on the stiff 
white of an egg, beating steadily. When the 
candy is well mixed through the egg, add two 
squares of chocolate, grated, and continue beat- 
ing until cool and thick enough to spread. If 
the candy happens to be taken off too soon, the 
icing will not get thick, and in that event it can 
be made the right consistency by the addition of 
a little confectioner's sugar. 
89 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

BOILED ICING 

For the plain white boiled icing, simply omit 
the chocolate from the foregoing recipe, and 
flavor as desired. 

After the two white layers have been put into 
the oven, if she will be very careful not to forget 
them, our little maid can go at her loaf cake. 

GOLD CAKE 

To one cupful of sugar, and a rounded table- 
spoonful of butter rubbed creamy, she can stir 
in the four yolks and one whole egg beaten to- 
gether as light as the proverbial feather. Then 
after sifting one and one-half cupfuls of flour 
with two level teaspoonfuls baking-powder in a 
separate bowl, she can add, a little at a time, 
one-half cupful of milk and the flour in the same 
way that she did in mixing her white cake. 
Flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla, or lemon, if 
preferred. 

CITRON CAKE 

If citron is liked, a quarter-cupful, cut very 
thin, and lightly floured, can be stirred through 
the batter made for the gold cake, the last thing. 
90 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 

This cake will bake better if put in a pan having 
a funnel opening in the center. The oven should 
be a little cooler for a loaf cake, and it should 
bake from forty to forty-five minutes. When 
done, it will shrink slightly from the sides of the 
pan and should be a delicate brown. The best 
way to avoid the possibility of sticking, is to first 
cut a piece of paper to fit the bottom of the pan 
and grease it thoroughly. On removing from 
the oven, the loaf cake should stand a few mo- 
ments and then be turned out on the bread board. 

NUT CAKE 

If desired, when the loaf is cool, it can be iced 
also, with a white icing, and it will look attractive 
if a few nut meats are scattered over the top be- 
fore the icing hardens. If nuts are liked, a few 
can be stirred through the cake instead of the 
citron and thus by using either (or neither) our 
small cook can make three different cakes with 
the same recipe. 

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE 

A delicious chocolate cake, sometimes called 
Devil's Food, is made as follows : cream three- 
quarters of a cup of butter with one cup of sugar, 
91 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

and add the beaten yolks of two eggs. Sift sev- 
eral times one and one-half cups of flour with two 
scant teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and stir in, 
alternating with half a cup of milk. Flavor with 
three tablespoon fuls of cocoa (or two squares of 
unsweetened chocolate, grated), and half a tea- 
spoonful of vanilla, and lastly add the two whites, 
beaten stiff. Bake in two layers, and put to- 
gether with white icing. 




Afternoon Tea for Two 



Any child with care and a little practice should 
be able to bake successfully any of the recipes 
given. They are not expensive, and yet if prop- 
92 



BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 

erly put together will make cake light and nice 
enough to offer any guest. The first, of course, 
is a trifle cheaper, but the others will give a good 
variety for any company, and when she has 
learned! to make them so they turn out well every 
time, she will have made a great advance in her 
cooking lessons. Then by simply changing her 
icing she can have as many different kinds as the 
family desire. 

BREAD 

Home-made bread is one thing that everybody 
likes, and while it takes time and patience, it is 
not really hard to make. One little girl I knew 
took pride in making all the bread for a family of 
four, and it was fine, too. The recipe here given 
will make three large loaves, so if you prefer, you 
can use only half 1 at first, until sure that you have 
learned to do it properly. Take three quarts of 
sifted flour, one even iron kitchen spoonful of salt, 
a rounded one of sugar, and one, also rounded, of 
lard melted in one cup of warm water — not hot. 
Dissolve one fresh compressed yeast cake in one 
cup of warm water, and add that, with two more 
cups of warm water. Mix this all well together, 
using your big spoon. When as smooth as you 
can get it that way, turn out on a floured board, 
93 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

and knead for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then 
set it away where it will not get chilled, and leave 
it to rise for from four to six hours, when it" will 
be about double its original size. Then turn out 
on your bread board again, cut it in three parts, 
roll into nice smooth loaves, without more knead- 
ing, put in buttered bread tins, leave again in a 
warm place for about two hours, then bake in a 
moderate oven until a pretty brown. When done, 
go lightly over the hard crust with a small white 
cloth dipped in cold water, roll in a fresh tea towel 
and allow to cool before cutting. If you wish, you 
can start your bread and give the first kneading 
at night, then cover and leave until morning. 

LIGHT BISCUIT 

For light biscuit, take one of the three parts cut 
for the bread, twist off little pieces the size of an 
egg, roll smooth without working, wet over the 
top with melted butter or milk, let rise to double 
their size, and bake in a hot oven from fifteen to 
twenty minutes. 



94 



CHAPTER XI 

Desserts Good in Summer 

For the hot days of summer, I know the moth- 
ers and little cooks will be deeply interested in cold 
desserts of all kinds — dishes that can be made 
early in the morning and set away, as well as va- 
rious frozen dainties. It is well to enjoy the deli- 
cious fruits and melons in their season (and really 
nothing finishes off a dinner better after a close, 
warm day), but still we all want to know how to 
make light puddings and jellies for a change. 

FLOATING ISLAND 

Floating island isl a nice dessert, easily made by 
any child, with reasonable care. For six persons, 
have her take three even cupfuls of milk and one- 
fourth teaspoonful salt, and put on to heat in a 
double kettle. Then beat up the yolks of three 
eggs, add one-half cupful sugar, one-half tea- 
spoonful vanilla, and pour in them slowly the hot 
milk, stirring all the time. Return to the double 
boiler and continue to stir until it thickens and 
95 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

gets creamy, coating the spoon. Do not allow to 
boil, or it will curdle. Cover and set aside to cool. 
Next the whites should be beaten up very stiff, 
and sweetened with two tablespoon fuls of pow- 
dered sugar. Have a pan filled with boiling hot 
water — but not bubbling — and into this drop the 
whites in heaping big spoonfuls. After standing 
a few; moments they will puff up very light. While 
they are cooking, pour the custard in a glass dish, 
then lift the whites with a skimmer, allow to drain 
and dot them over the top. Made in this way, the 
meringue tastes much better than when served un- 
cooked. A half-teaspoonful of currant jelly on 
top of each " island " makes the dessert even more 
inviting, and it looks particularly nice when served 
in individual glass dishes or sherbet cups. 

Gelatin forms the basis for many delicious, in- 
expensive puddings. It is well for the housewife 
to examine the recipes coming with the different 
brands, for while some boxes will make only one 
quart of jelly, others at the same price will make 
two, and therefore cost only half as much. 

LEMON JELLY 

For plain lemon jelly, the mother will instruct 
the child to soak two rounded tablespoonfuls of 



DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 

granulated gelatin in one-third cupful of cold wa- 
ter for fifteen minutes. Then add two cupfuls of 
boiling 1 water, one cupful sugar, and the strained 
juice of two lemons. Pour in a shallow mold to 
set and when ready to send to the table turn onto 
a small platter and garnish with whipped cream, 
or serve with the custard used for floating island. 




Fruit Jelly with Whipped Cream 



FRUIT JELLY 

For a fruit jelly in winter, line the bottom of 
the mold or individual cups with pieces of banana, 
orange, or preserved cherries, fill up with the liquid 
97 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

lemon jelly and set away to harden. In berry sea- 
son, however, flavor the gelatin with half a cupful 
of the pure berry juice strained (instead of using 
lemon), and pour into cups half filled with fine, 
whole berries. This is best served with whipped 
cream, one large berry decorating the top of each 
cup. 

These jellies have to be set in a very cold 
place to make them firm, and it is often advisable 
in warm weather, if they cannot be put on ice, to 
make them, the night before they are needed, then 
put them in the coolest place possible 

WHIPPED CREAM 

Whipped cream is called for with so many 
dishes, that every little girl should learn how to 
prepare it. In the first place the cream must be 
very thick and very cold. In the cities a special 
cream is usually delivered if ordered for whipping; 
and I believe it is a day older than the other kind. 
But if thick enough and cold, there is no trick at 
all about making it stiff in a very few moments. 
Have the child take a deep bowl or small stone 
butter jar, rinse it in cold water until chilled, then 
wipe and pour in one-half pint of cream. Taking 
a Dover egg-beater, also thoroughly cold, let her 
98 



DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 

whip steadily and not too fast until thick as the 
stiff white of an egg. Taking out the beater, next 
add half a cupful of confectioners' sugar, half a 
teaspoonful of vanilla, stir thoroughly and set 
away on the ice until needed. It is best when 
freshly made. 

NUTS 

Nuts are used so much nowadays, in all kinds 
of cookery, that we find them in the most unex- 
pected places. When chopped, they are mixed 
with cottage cheese for sandwiches, stirred into 
all kinds of salads, put into cake batter, and all 
kinds of icings ; and when left in unbroken halves, 
used to garnish many gelatine puddings and 
whipped-cream desserts. 

But when the very hottest days come, we all 
like the good things that come from the ice-cream 
freezer. The best up-to-date freezers do their 
work very quickly, the great secret being to have 
the ice broken up in very fine pieces or crushed in 
a strong bag. A good rule to follow for mixing 
with salt is as follows: 

For ice-creams, three parts ice to one part salt- 

For frappes, two parts ice to one part salt. 

For mousses, etc., equal Darts ice and salt. 
99 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

Then be sure to get the top on your can tightly, 
and when you are ready to remove it be careful to 
first brush aside all ice and salt, so not one par- 
ticle can possibly get into the freezer. Nothing 
marks the amateur more than salt in the ice-cream. 

FRENCH ICE-CREAM 

A delicious French ice-cream has for its founda- 
tion a custard made by beating up first the yolks 
of three eggs very light, adding a pinch of salt, 
one cupful sugar and two cupfuls of milk. Cook 
this in a double boiler until it coats the spoon, but 
do not allow to boil or it will curdle. Cool, flavor 
with a teaspoonful of rich vanilla, add one pint 
of cream and freeze. 

CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM 

For a rich chocolate ice-cream, make like the 
foregoing, only add to the custard before it cools 
two ounces of grated, unsweetened chocolate which 
has been set in a pan of hot water long enough to 
allow it to melt. This takes but a few moments, 
however. 

FRUIT ICE 

For a refreshing fruit ice, have our little maid 
prepare the juice of three oranges, three lemons, 
100 



DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 

and one pint of either strawberries or red rasp- 
berries. After straining through a coarse strainer, 
she must add three cupfuls of sugar, three cupfuls 
of cold water and the stiffly beaten whites of two 
eggs. This does not need to be frozen quite so 
hard as the ice-cream. 



STRAWBERRY MOUSSE 

In strawberry season, particularly on a farm 
where there is an abundance of rich cream and 
luscious fruit, the finest kind of a frozen dessert is 
made by adding to a pint of thick unflavored 
cream, whipped as directed, two cupfuls of crushed 
berries and two cupfuls of sugar. The berries and 
sugar, well mixed, should be folded carefully into 
the cream and pressed in a mold. The cracks 
must be filled with butter or lard to prevent the 
salt water leaking in, and the mold packed closely 
in salt and ice and left for four hours. Remember 
it is not frozen in the freezer by turning. When 
ready to unmold,, wring a cloth out of boiling wa- 
ter and lay around the can for a moment, after 
loosening where possible with a thin-bladed knife. 
Turn on to a platter and send to the table to be 
cut in slices. 

101 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



LEMON ICE 

For a plain lemon ice, take the grated rind of 
one lemon, and the juice of three, a cupful and a 
half of sugar, four cupfuls of water, and the 
stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Freeze, but 
not too hard. 

CITRON CUSTARD 

Citron custard is good summer or winter, served 
hot or cold. The child should first beat up very 
light two eggs, then add a pinch of salt, one-third 
cupful 1 of sugar, two cupfuls of milk, and a sprin- 
kle of nutmeg. Next she must line a baking-dish 
or individual cups with thin slices of citron, then 
pour in the custard and bake, after setting her 
dish or cups in a pan of boiling water. If a few 
small nails are scattered over the bottom of the 
water-pan, so the pudding cups do not touch, but 
are surrounded by water, the custard will cook 
more evenly. Leave in the oven about twenty min- 
utes, but test before taking out by inserting in the 
middle the blade of a silver knife. When thor- 
oughly done the blade will come out clean instead 
of coated. 

102 



DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 




Cornstarch Pudding, Individual Moulds 



CORNSTARCH PUDDING 

Cornstarch pudding is an old favorite, too, 
either hot or cold. First mix four level table- 
spoonfuls of cornstarch with three tablespoonfuls 
of sugar, and beat up light one egg. Then scald 
two cupfuls of milk, after pouring a few spoonfuls 
on the cornstarch in order to thoroughly wet it, 
When the milk is hot, add the moistened corn- 
starch and sugar, the beaten egg, and flavoring 
to taste, stirring constantly until thick. Then 
allow to cook gently for ten minutes at least. A 
double boiler is best for all such puddings, as it 
prevents all possibility of scorching, but it takes 
longer. One delicious way of serving this other- 
103 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

wise ordinary dish is to cut a few thin peelings 
from a lemon (just the yellow part), cook with 
the milk till a delicate flavor is imparted, and then 
remove. When the pudding is done, pour in a 
mold and let set. Then serve with whipped cream 
flavored with vanilla. The combination of the 
two flavorings is very agreeable. 

RAISIN TAPIOCA 

Tapioca is a thing every child should learn to 
use, as it is capable of so many variations. For 
the simplest pudding, have her first cover three- 
quarters of a cup of tapioca, (or sago, either), 
with one cupful of cold water and allow to soak 
at least an hour. Then add three cupfuls of boil- 
ing water, one-half teaspoonful salt, the flavor- 
ing and sugar to taste, and boil until transpar- 
ent. If the family like lemon, let her add the 
6trained juice and grated rind of one lemon and 
one-half cupful of sugar. Or, she can use a level 
cupful of raisins, the juice and grated rind of 
half a lemon and cupful of sugar. (The raisins 
should be seeded, of course.) 

APPLE TAPIOCA 

Or still another way is to boil the tapioca, 
104 



DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 

sweetened but not flavored, for about fifteen min- 
utes, then pour into a baking-dish half filled with 
sliced apples and flavored with nutmeg. This 
must be baked until the apples are tender 



TAPIOCA CUSTARD 

Probably the most common way, though, of 
making tapioca pudding is by taking half the 
recipe given and after boiling fifteen minutes, 
(without flavoring or sugar), adding to it two 
cupfuls of milk, two well-beaten eggs, one-half 
teaspoonful vanilla, and half a cupful of sugar, 
then baking until the custard begins to brown on 
top. All these desserts are to be served with 
cream, plain or whipped, which adds to the ap- 
pearance as well as taste. 

There are several brands of granulated tapioca 
on the market, and they are convenient if one is 
in a hurry, but they are more expensive than the 
ordinary kind, and I have found that the direc- 
tions on the box seldom allow sufficient time to 
boil, and also that the pouring on of boiling 
water suggested is apt to result in the powdered 
tapioca forming lumps which require an extra 
amount of cooking. 

105 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE 

A favorite hot sauce for puddings, or to be 
served separately with vanilla ice-cream, is made 
by melting one square of unsweetened chocolate, 
adding a teaspoonful of butter, one-third of a cup 
of water, one cup of sugar, and a few drops of 
vanilla. Cook for five minutes, and keep hot until 
needed. Two tablespoonfuls of cocoa can be used 
if preferred. 

My little cooks should now have become experi- 
enced enough that if they saw a recipe they 
thought they would like in some newspaper or 
magazine they could go ahead and try it by them- 
selves. It might be well for mother to glance it 
over first and see if it looks all right, and then if 
she said " Yes," proceed with it. But whatever 
they try, they should remember to be sure they 
put in every ingredient according to directions, 
and then cook to the queen's taste! 



106 



CHAPTER XII 

The Thanksgiving Dinner 

All children are deeply interested in prepara- 
tions for company, and in the getting ready for 
the Thanksgiving dinner every mother will find 
good opportunity to teach her little daughter 
many valuable lessons. There is so much to be 
thought of at this time and so much to be done 
that the wise woman will take the child into con- 
sultation, and by freely discussing plans get help 
and at the same time train her into the right way 
to prepare for guests. 

THANKSGIVING MENU 

In the first place, talk over with her and decide 
about the number to be entertained, and then set- 
tle on the menu. Get her to express her opin- 
ions, and if they are good let her see that you ap- 
prove them by following her suggestions. If they 
are not good point out wherein they are at fault, 
and after deciding what dishes are to be served, 
show her how to write out the bill of fare in 
proper form. This should then be hung up in 
107 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

the kitchen for reference, as otherwise it would be 
an easy matter to overlook something or make a 
mistake. If, for instance, a simple dinner of the 
usual good things is desired, it should be written 
out in this way — and the child herself can do the 
writing : 

DINNER 

Consomme 

Roast Turkey, with Dressing 

Cranberry Sauce Pickles Celery 

Mashed Potatoes Creamed Onions 

Mince Pie Cream Cheese 

Coffee Nuts Raisins 

MARKETING 

The day before let the child help in the mar- 
keting. As she has already been shown how to 
make consomme, she can now be allowed to do it 
by herself, and set it away to be heated up when 
needed. When you go to buy the turkey, vege- 
tables and fruits, show her the right kind to se- 
lect. Explain that the celery should be crisp and 
white, not wilted and discolored ; the cranberries 
hard and red, not soft and brown in spots ; the 
oranges solid and heavy, not pithy and light. 

Have her consult the list made before starting 
108 



THE THANKSGIVING DINNER 




A Dinner Table, with Fruit Centerpiece, and 

Nuts in Individual Baskets 
out, to be sure sne gets everything needed before 
beginning her cooking. 

DRESSING THE TURKEY 
Returning home, as soon as the turkey is de- 
livered show her how to dress it. This is always 
an interesting process, and while few mothers like 
to see their girls really do this work, they ought 
to explain it fully. After taking out the pin- 
feathers and singeing, the skin should be care- 
fully washed with warm water, soap and a small 
clean cloth, for so much dust adheres to the flesh 
of poultry that in no other way can it be removed. 
As fowls are usually drawn at the market, now 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

take out the giblets, tear away the lights, rinse 
thoroughly the inside and then sprinkle with salt. 



MOIST STUFFING 

The little cook herself can be allowed to make 
the stuffing. To each loaf of stale bread, broken 
in small pieces, add salt and pepper to taste, two 
tablespoonfuls of butter, half-teaspoonful of 
ground sage and boiling water enough to slightly 
moisten. 



DRY STUFFING 

For dry dressing, crumble the bread, omit the 
water, but use four tablespoonfuls of melted but- 
ter. Pack in the turkey very loosely. Some peo- 
ple like this seasoned with thyme, while others 
prefer onion. 

OYSTER STUFFING 

Or if oyster dressing is preferred, omit sage 
and add instead one pint of oysters, using the 
liquor to dampen the bread. Pack lightly in the 
turkey, sew up the opening with white thread and 
set away in a cool place. 
110 



THE THANKSGIVING DINNER 

CRANBERRY SAUCE 

Taking the cranberries next, the child can sort 
them over, wash and put on in a granite kettle, 
allowing half a cupful of water and two cupfuls 
of sugar to each quart of berries. Place over a 
slow fire, and after boiling fifteen or twenty min- 
utes, stirring only enough to keep from burning, 
remove and set away until cool enough to pour 
in a glass dish. Berries cooked this way will keep 
their shape, be transparent and a bright, pretty 
red. 

MINCE MEAT 

The mince-meat takes some time to prepare, 
and is much better if made a week or two before- 
hand and allowed to stand in a tightly covered 
jar. Our small cook can help get ready the rai- 
sins, currants, citron, orange peel, and apples 
while the beef is boiling, and then will be delighted 
to do the chopping. To half a pound of lean beef, 
cooked until well done and chopped fine, add half 
a pound of chopped suet and one pound of 
chopped tart apples, prepared separately. To 
this put half a pound of currants, cleaned and 
dried, half a pound of seeded raisins, half a pound 
of citron, cut in small pieces, two cupfuls of light- 
Ill 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

brown sugar, an even teaspoonful salt, half a tea- 
spoonful each of ground cloves and allspice, one 
teaspoonful cinnamon, one-fourth teaspoonful 
grated nutmeg, one tablespoonful of finely broken 
dried orange peel, juice of one lemon, one pint of 
boiled cider. Boil slowly for an hour, add, if de- 
sired, one-half cupful of brandy, and then pack 
away in a crock in a cool place. This recipe, with 
full directions for mixing, should then be written 
out in the small cook-book, for although it may 
not be needed again for a long time, it will be 
ready for reference at any moment, ready for use 
without any doubt or trouble — and " the kind 
that mother used to make." Mince-meat is so fas- 
cinating, too, on account of all the good things 
that go into it, that scarcely anyone that ever 
made it right once can fail thereafter. 

Every, girl should know how to make good pie 
crust, and as it is principally a matter of having 
the ingredients chilled from the ice-box, almost 
anyone can be successful by taking a little care. 



PLAIN PASTRY 

Sift one and one-half cupfuls of flour with one- 
half teaspoonful salt. Chop through this until 
like meal a half-cupful of chilled lard. Add just 
113 



THE THANKSGIVING DINNER 




Making Pies 
113 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

enough ice-water| to make a stiff dough, and turn 
out with as little handling as possible on a floured 
bread-board. Sprinkle on flour enough to keep 
from sticking to rolling-pin, and dividing into sec- 
tions, roll to fit the size of the pie-pan. (Per- 
forated tins are preferable.) Add filling, put on 
thinly-rolled top crust, with a few openings in 
center to emit steam, and bake about half an 
hour, after pressing the edges thoroughly to- 
gether to keep in all juice. If desired shorter, 
three-quarters of a cupful of lard can be used, 
but the dough must be kept thoroughly chilled, 
and it is best made in a cold room. 

SETTING THE TABLE 

Then, on Thursday morning begin the dinner 
in plenty of time, so there will be no hurry or con- 
fusion at the last moment. The table can be set 
early, the little maid being shown the silver re- 
quired. At the right of each plate put the knife, 
soup spoon and necessary teaspoons ; at the left 
the forks, three if a salad is served. The glass 
for water is placed to the right of the center, in 
line with the knife, and the napkin either directly 
in the center on the service-plate or to the left of 
the forks. If no flowers are available for table 
decorations, pile the fruit up attractively for a 
114 



THE THANKSGIVING DINNER 

centerpiece, using the small dishes of nuts and 
raisins at each end to balance. 

The vegetables next should be prepared. Trim 
off the long green ends of the celery and the dis- 
colored outside stalks, (which will make a nice 
cream of celery soup next day), and then instead 
of separating the remaining stalks, cut through 
the whole bunches into quarter sections or smaller. 
In this way each person gets part of the inside 
tender heart, and the celery is more attractive. 

When dinner is all ready, if there is no maid 
to help, the easiest way is to have the soup 
served and placed on the table just before calling 
out the guests. Then, when ready for the next 
course, our little cook can remove the soup plates, 
taking from the right side of each person, and 
bring on the dinner. When that is over, she 
must remove all the dishes before each one, clear 
the table of everything but the water glasses and 
the decorations, brush the cloth with a folded 
napkin and a plate to catch the crumbs, and 
lastly bring in the dessert. Every family has its 
own way as regards details, but a mother can 
very quickly get a child into the habit of being 
neat, careful and quiet about handling dishes. 
And she must always remember to proffer food 
on a tray, at the left. 

115 



! ' 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Christmas Dinner 



Party 



Our little cook, after her experience at Thanks- 
giving, will probably be most eager to take part 
in the preparations for the Christmas dinner. 
Consult her now, as before; tell her all your ideas, 
get her suggestions, and then make all plans at 
least a week beforehand. Holidays should be 
holidays for the hostess as well as the guest, and 
can be made so by the choice of a dinner that is 
good and at the same time easily prepared. The 
suggested menu following will be found attrac- 
tive enough for any party, and at the same time 
it is neither expensive nor very difficult to get 
ready. 

Let the little girl again make out the bill of 
fare and hang up in the kitchen for reference, 
make out her list for market and grocery, and 
help in the selection of the goose, the vegetables 
and the fruits. Thus she will learn the best kinds 
to buy and what they cost, and incidentally 
mother and daughter can have a regular little 
117 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

lark out of the expedition and become better 
chums than in almost any other way. 

CHRISTMAS MENU 

MENU FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER 

Raw Oysters, Horseradish 

Roast Goose Apple Sauce Celery 

Mashed Potatoes Lima Beans 

Tomato Jelly Salad 

Plum Pudding 

Fruit Nuts Raisins 

Coffee 

The first dish to make, strange to say, is the 
last one on the list, and the plum pudding is bet- 
ter if made several weeks before it is needed, and 
then simply steamed up again for a couple of 
hours just before serving. A fine old recipe that 
had been in a friend's family for years, was once 
given me, but as it rilled six molds I reduced it to 
the following proportions, which is ample for a 
mold large enough for eight people: 

PLUM PUDDING 

One-half cupful butter, three-quarters cupful 
sugar, one-quarter pound suet, two and one-half 
118 



CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY 

cupfuls flour, one-half pound seeded raisins, one- 
half pound currants, one ounce citron, three eggs 
yolks and whites (beaten separately), one-half 
cupful milk, one-quarter cupful almonds (blanched 
and chopped fine), one-quarter cupful brandy (or 
boiled cider if preferred), one-half teaspoonful 
cloves, one-quarter teaspoonful nutmeg, one tea- 
spoonful cinnamon. 

After getting all her ingredients out on the 
table and ready, the little cook should cream her 
butter and sugar, beat in yolks, add milk, and 
then stir in the flour alternately with the stiff 
whites. Then put in the brandy and spice, and 
last of all the fruit and nuts, dredged with a lit- 
tle flour. This should be well stirred, and then 
packed in a thoroughly greased covered mold 
and steamed for four hours. 

HARD SAUCE 

Two kinds of sauce are nice for this pudding, 
served together. A hard sauce is made by cream- 
ing one-half cupful of butter in one cupful of 
fine sugar, adding half teaspoonful of brandy or 
vanilla and one teaspoonful cream and stirring 
until light and creamy. It can be set in a bowl 
of hot water at first to help make the butter 
cream, but after being beaten light should be set 
119 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

in the cold to harden. A teaspoonful of this hard 
sauce is served on each portion of the pudding. 



HOT SAUCE 

The following hot sauce is poured around: 
one-quarter cupful butter, one cupful sugar, one 
teaspoonful flour. Mix flour and sugar, add 
butter and one cupful cold water, and stir until 
it boils and thickens. Flavor with nutmeg. 

The day before Christmas repeat the lesson in 
dressing a fowl, and let her make the stuffing 
from the recipe used before, only this time she 
should omit the sage or oysters and season with 
a small onion chopped fine. 



APPLE SAUCE 

For the accompanying apple sauce, let her 
peel and quarter half a dozen tart apples, put on 
to cook in a cup of cold water, and when tender 
press through a colander, sweeten to taste, and 
then put in a pretty glass dish and grate nut- 
meg over the top. This should then be covered 
and set away until ready to be carried to the 
table. 

120 



CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY 

OYSTERS ON THE HALF 
SHELL 

As we intended to have as little work as possible 
about this particular dinner, I have suggested 
raw oysters for the first course instead of a soup. 
Serve on the half-shell if you can get them that 
way, putting a little chopped ice on each plate to 
hold the shells in place, giving four or five oys- 
ters to each person, and putting one empty shell 
in the center to hold the horseradish or slice of 
lemon. If the oysters are opened at the market 
all you have to do is to see that they are kept on 
ice until served. 

TOMATO JELLY SALAD 

For the tomato jelly salad, first boil together 
until very tender one quart can of tomatoes, one 
small sliced onion, six cloves, one-half cupful 
chopped celery. Strain through a jelly bag, sea- 
son with salt and pepper, and add gelatin which 
has been dissolving in a few spoonfuls of cold 
water. As different brands vary, however, study 
the directions on the box in order to get the right 
amount to stiffen one quart of jelly. 

If the gelatin does not thoroughly melt with 
the warm tomato juice, set over the fire for a few 
121 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

moments, and then pour into small molds (wine 
glasses or after-dinner coffee cups will serve 
nicely), and set away to harden over night. Next 
morning fix the required number of salad dishes 
with lettuce leaves or tender cabbage cut in 
strings, and turn out carefully the molded tomato 
jelly. Over the top of each drop a large spoon- 
ful of thick boiled dressing. 

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS 

A pretty idea for a Christmas table is to carry 
out as fully as possible a color scheme of red and 
green. The centerpiece, of course, should be of 
holly, and a novel one it will be if large beautiful 
pieces are put in the upper part of a double boiler 
and set out to freeze. I did this once by acci- 
dent, and when I went for my holly there it was 
—imbedded in a solid block of ice. The shape 
of the oat-meal kettle, like a flowerpot, allowed 
the ice to turn out easily, and it could then be 
set on a plate and trimmed around the bottom 
with the holly leaves. A couple of bolts of red 
baby ribbon will be enough for streamers from 
the chandelier to each plate, at which should be 
a pretty piece of the holly — or better still, if you 
can get them, three or four red carnations for 
122 



CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY 

each lady, and one for the buttonhole of each 
gentleman. 

COLOR SCHEME 

To carry out this color plan, the oysters should 
be served with catsup and garnished with pars- 
ley, the tomato jelly be turned out on lettuce, 
the plum pudding (ablaze with a spoonful of al- 
cohol) decorated with holly, and the candy — red 
and white peppermint wafers — tied with green 
baby ribbon. 

If the details of preparing the dinner have 
been followed out as I have suggested, and every- 
thing possible done the day before, on Christmas 
morning there will be little to do: the goose to 
put into the oven and roast, the potatoes to mash 
and the beans to dress, the plum pudding to heat 
up, the sauce to prepare, with the gravy and 
the coffee to make at the last moment. Our small 
cook of course has the celery cleaned preparatory 
to cutting up, and the nuts all cracked, and she 
can tie up the candy and' assist with the decora- 
tions. Having helped set the table for the 
Thanksgiving party, she will feel perfectly com- 
petent to undertake the arrangement now, alone, 
and you, Mother, can say, " You have gotten 
along with everything so nicely, and remembered 
123 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

so well, I will let you put on the dishes and sil- 
ver all by yourself." Then when she reports 
that all is ready, look over the work yourself and 
see that it is all right. Possibly she will have 
misplaced some pieces, forgotten others, but if 
you point out the errors and have her remedy 
the mistakes herself, she will likely remember next 
time and make her table a well-appointed one. 



iu 



CHAPTER XIV 

Delicious Home-Made 
Candies 

All children love to make candy, and the home- 
made kinds are much purer and better — besides 
being much cheaper — than those usually sold at 
the small confectionery stores. Every mother 
will do well to help her little daughter master 
this branch of cookery, for it will not only enable 
her to make wholesome sweets for the family when 
desired, but also to prepare a dainty box when 
she wishes to make an inexpensive present. 

NUT CANDY 

For fine nut candy, have the child first pick 
out half a cupful of nut meats. Put on in a 
small saucepan two level cupfuls of light-brown 
sugar, one-half cupful of water, a level teaspoon- 
ful of butter and a tablespoonful of vinegar, 
and boil without stirring until the candy crackles 
when dropped in cold water. Pour into a well- 
buttered pie-pan that has been sprinkled with 
the nuts, and as soon as cool, mark into squares. 
125 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



w 




^L^ 




cc ^ 



•'**£// 



Home-Made Chocolate Creams and Fudge 
126 



DELICIOUS HOME-MADE CANDIES 

MAPLE FUDGE 

For delicious maple fudge, take one and one- 
half cupfuls of light-brown sugar, one cupful of 
maple sirup, half a cupful of milk, and a level 
teaspoonful of butter. Boil slowly until it makes 
a soft ball when rolled between the fingers in 
cold water, then set aside until cool. Then beat 
with a fork until a creamy, sugary mass, turn 
quickly on to a buttered plate and mark into 
squares. If the little cook finds it is soft from 
having been taken off a moment too soon, she 
will have to let it stand longer to turn to sugar, 
but the fudge that stands overnight will be par- 
ticularly smooth. 

CREAM CANDY 

Cream candy is made by boiling two cupfuls 
of granulated sugar, without stirring; with three- 
fourths cupful water, two tablespoonfuls vinegar 
and a teaspoonful of butter until brittle when 
dropped in cold water. Pour on to a buttered 
pan, but do not scrape the sugared edge of the 
kettle, and pull as soon as cool. If a little care 
is exercised in handling at first, it will not stick 
to the fingers. The butter or flour sometimes 
put on the hands to prevent this only spoils the 

127 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

candy. When pulled perfectly white, cut with 
scissors into small cubes. The longer this stands, 
the more delicious it becomes, and if flavored with 
a few drops of essence of peppermint when first 
put on (so it can be well stirred through) and 
then put away when done in a glass jar for a 
couple of weeks, it will make delicate " after- 
dinner mint." 

CHOCOLATE CREAMS 

Easy chocolate creams require two cupfuls of 
confectioner's sugar, with a few teaspoonfuls of 
milk to moisten enough to work like dough, and 
a quarter teaspoonful of vanilla. Knead well, 
and work out into small balls. Melt one square 
of unsweetened chocolate by first grating and 
then setting in a pan of hot water, and drop 
in the creams, one at a time. Roll around 
quickly with a fork, and lift on to a sheet of but- 
tered paper. Put in a cool place to harden. Dif- 
ferent flavorings can be used instead of all vanilla, 
and half an English walnut stuck on the top of 
each cream before the chocolate hardens will add 
to the attractiveness. Or, instead of dipping 
all the creams in the chocolate, they can be cut 
in half and wrapped around with figs or seeded 
128 



DELICIOUS HOME-MADE CANDIES 

dates. They will grow more creamy if allowed 
to stand a day or two. 

FUDGE 

Particularly smooth fudge is made in a way 
that seems strange until you try it. Take two 
cups of sugar, half a cup of milk, one table- 
spoonful of butter, a few drops of vanilla, and 
four tablespoonfuls of cocoa. Mix, and boil 
without stirring until it makes a soft ball when 
dropped in cold water. Remove from the fire, 
set aside until cool, then pour on to a buttered 
platter and beat with a silver fork until creamy. 
When you see it beginning to harden, quickly 
smooth out and mark in squares. 

MOLASSES TAFFY 

All little children like this, and it is easily 
made. To two cups of molasses, add one cup 
of sugar, two tablespoons of butter, and boil un- 
til brittle when dropped in cold water. Add 
then one-fourth teaspoonful of soda, stir through 
and pour on buttered tins. When cool enough 
to handle pull to a light color, cut in sticks, and 
lay on oiled paper to harden. This is good 
flavored with a few drops of peppermint, but 
do not get in too much. 

129 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

STUFFED DATES 

Stuffed dates are a most wholesome sweet, and 
quickly made, too. The dates must first be 
picked apart, washed in warm water and dried 
in an old napkin. Remove the seed from each 
with a sharp knife, slip a nut in its place, press 
together, and sift over with granulated sugar. 
Leave standing a while on oiled paper to become 
firm. They are nice served at the end of a din- 
ner, with the dessert and coffee. 

SALTED NUTS 

Salted nuts, used so much, are usuallv placed 
on the table when it is set, and passed during the 
meal. They are very expensive if bought ready 
for use, but quite inexpensive made at hornet 
Either almonds or peanuts can be used, but the 
almonds must first be dropped in boiling water 
long enough to loosen the skins, which will slip 
off easily in a cloth. Melt half a teaspoonful 
of butter in a pie-pan, pour in a cup of nut 
meats, stir enough to cover with the oil, and 
brown in the oven. Remove, and rub dry with 
a soft cloth, and sprinkle with fine salt. 



130 



CHAPTER XV 

Preserving 

I should not feel the series of lessons complete 
without a word to the mothers about how to in- 
terest their girls in this important part of cook- 
ing. It is so easily done, and my own little 
daughters took such pleasure in the work, that 
I hope every woman will let her child try put- 
ting up at least one kind of fruit. The first 
step, however, is to get the fruit jars and glasses 
all conveniently at hand, clean and dry, with 
fresh rubbers for the tops. 

CANNED PEARS AND 
PEACHES 

Peaches and pears should be thinly peeled and 
halved, then dropped into a thick sirup made by 
boiling four parts granulated sugar to one part 
water. The fruit juice will thin this consider- 
ably, but the fruit should be boiled gently until 
thoroughly cooked and transparent. Then lift 
131 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRL 






-«*£ 








PRESERVING 



it carefully into the jars, set in a pan of boil- 
ing water, out of a draft, to avoid breaking, pack 
to the top, and fill to overflowing with the sirup. 
Screw tops on immediately as tight as possible. 
This is the great secret of successful canning. 



PRESERVED PLUMS 

Damson plums make a rich, old-fashioned pre- 
serve if washed, pricked, and allowed to stand a 
few hours, mixed with an equal quantity of sugar 
— pound for pound — then put on the stove where 
they will gently simmer until cooked down quite 
thick. They must be watched carefully, how- 
ever, to prevent scorching. Such rich fruit is 
best put up in pint jars, as usually only a small 
quantity is needed at a time. 



CANNED CHERRIES 

Seed the cherries after washing them, watching 
carefully to see that none are wormy, and measure. 
Take half the quantity of sugar, moisten with 
just enough water to melt, boil to a thick syrup, 
and then add the cherries. Cook fifteen minutes, 
and seal, 

133 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

RASPBERRY JAM 

Pick over the berries, measure, wash and then 
crush. Put on to boil, and cook ten minutes, stir- 
ring to keep from sticking to the pan. Then add 
three-quarters the amount of heated sugar, cook 
twenty minutes longer and pour into small jars, 
or in glasses that can be covered with paraffin 
as soon as the jam is cold. 

BAR-LE-DUC CURRANTS 

Wash, stem, and measure the currants. Take 
three-quarters the amount of sugar, moisten with 
barely enough water to melt, boil to a thick syrup, 
turn in the currants, and cook twenty minutes. 
Pour into small glasses, and as soon as cool cut 
rounds of white paper to fit tops, wet in brandy, 
and lay over the fruit. Cut larger circles of the 
paper, wet thoroughly on one side with white of 
egg, and paste over the glass carefully, to make 
air-tight. This sounds like going back to the 
days of our grandmothers, but these currants 
are too rich to be put up in larger quantities, 
and jelly tumblers do not have tight tops. 

APPLE JELLY 

First peel and core sound sour apples, and 
134? 



PRESERVING 



put on to stew with just enough water to cover. 
Cook until the apples are almost a mush, put in 
a jelly-bag, and let hang overnight. Do not 
squeeze. Next day measure the juice and let 
boil twenty minutes, skimming whenever neces- 
sary. While it is cooking, heat an equal quan- 
tity of granulated sugar in the oven and stir it 
in. Cook five minutes longer, or until the jelly 
forms when dropped on a cold saucer. Stand 
jelly glasses in a dripping-pan, surround with, 
boiling water, pour in the jelly, and set aside 
until firm. When solid, if covered with one-quar- 
ter inch of melted paraffin, it will not mould, nor 
will tin covers be necessary. 

CRAB APPLE JELLY 

Crab apple jelly is made in the same way as 
the apple jelly, but the fruit is simply wiped off 
and quartered, — not peeled. 

GRAPE JELLY 

Pick grapes from the stem, wash, crush, and 
boil twenty minutes. Then put in jelly -bag to 
drip overnight, but do not squeeze. Next day 
measure juice, boil ten minutes, add an equal 
amount of sugar that has been warming, boil 
135 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

three minutes, or until a drop jellies on a cold 
dish, then turn into glasses. 

About half as much juice as drips will be left 
in the bag, and it can afterward be squeezed out 
and boiled separately, (for it will be cloudy), or 
the entire contents of the jelly-bag can be put 
through the colander, sweetened and spiced to 
taste, and cooked until of the desired thickness. 
This makes a nice marmalade. 



FRUIT COMBINATION 

At a time when other fruits are very high, 
the plain apple jelly, so delicate in flavor itself, 
Can be mixed when ready to pour with any kind 
of preserved fruit, ready to be put up, even in 
the proportion of one-fourth, and it will not be 
noticeable. Since the pure food law went into 
effect and manufacturers have had to print their 
formulas on the bottles, we have been able to 
gather a few trade secrets ; and one of our best- 
known firms has this admission on its jam labels: 

" These goods are compounded from forty per 
cent, each fresh fruit and granulated sugar, with 
addition of ten per cent, each fresh apple juice 
and corn sirup, to prevent crystallization." 

Their jams are very good, but why pay twenty 
136 



PRESERVING 



cents a pound for a mixture of apple juice and 
corn sirup? 

And only forty per cent, fresh fruit ! 

Really, though, this fine apple jelly is quite 
a valuable addition to such strong fruits as 
quinces, or such watery ones as strawberries. 



137 



CHAPTER XVI 

Sandwiches and Drinks 

SANDWICHES OF CHICKEN 
OR MEAT 

For picnics, school luncheons, and her evening 
parties my little maid will want sandwiches, and 
there are many kinds easily made. And generally 
she will want the bread cut very thin and spread 
with soft butter. For ordinary occasions she may 
use any kind of meat she happens to find in the 
house, slicing it if she can, then seasoning with 
mustard, or else putting it through the grinder 
and seasoning with mustard, a small minced pickle, 
or finely chopped sweet green pepper. In using 
the ground meat, however, rub it to a paste with 
the butter intended for the bread, and it will 
spread more easily. 

HAM SANDWICHES 

To be particularly nice, mince the ham, cream 
with the butter, season with mustard, spread on 
139 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

one slice of bread, cover with a crisp lettuce leaf, 
add the top slice of bread, then cut in triangles. 

LETTUCE SANDWICHES 

On thin slices of buttered bread lay a fresh leaf 
of lettuce, and spread with salad dressing, before 
adding top slice. 

OLIVE AND CHEESE SAND- 
WICHES 

These are especially good for afternoon tea or 
parties. Butter the bread each time before slic- 
ing, so it can be cut very thin without breaking. 
Spread with cream cheese that has been rubbed to 
a paste with cream, and sprinkle with chopped 
olives. Cut in fancy shapes. 

RAISIN SANDWICHES 

Spread thinly sliced brown bread with butter 
first, then with raisins, seeded and chopped. 

CRACKER SANDWICHES 

Butter graham crackers, and spread with 
chopped and mixed nuts and raisins. Or, take 
square soda crackers, sprinkle with sugar and cin- 
140 



SANDWICHES AND DRINKS 

luimon, and toast a light brown. The latter, 
served hot, are also very nice for afternoon tea. 

Though children should not be allowed to 
drink tea and coffee, (and young people are bet- 
ter off without them,) every little maid should 
be taught how to prepare these drinks for the 
grown-ups, most of whom are apt to be critical. 

TEA 

First, find out the kind your friends like if 
you possibly can, and do not give Ceyjon to a 
lover of uncolored Japan ! Then have fresh 
boiling water, and scald out your teapot, which 
should be earthenware or china. While it is still 
hot, put in the tea, a teaspoonful for each cup 
if you use the ordinary kinds, but only half a 
teaspoonful of some of the strong black varieties. 
Pour on immediately the required amount of boil- 
ing water, and set in a warm place, or cover with 
a cozy for five minutes. If desired cold, then 
pour off the grounds, and when cool enough, put 
in the ice box or serve at once with chopped ice. 
Never boil tea, nor allow to stand on the leaves 
very long, as it draws out the injurious tannin, 
besides impairing the flavor. A thin slice of 
141 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

lemon in each glass improves the taste as well 
as the looks. 

COFFEE 

People have different ways of making coffee, 
but a very easy one is to measure out a table- 
spoonful of ground coffee for each cup desired, 
tie up in a square cheesecloth, and cover with 
an equal number of cups of boiling water. 
Set on the stove where it will keep just below 
the boiling point, for three minutes, then pour 
and serve with cream and sugar. But to make 
this way, grind very fine. If your friends pre- 
fer boiled coffee, however, measure out a table- 
spoonful for each person, moisten well with part 
of the white of an egg, cover with one cup of 
cold water, and when that boils, add rest of the 
required amount from your boiling teakettle. 
Cook for five minutes, then settle with a third of 
a cup of cold water, and place where it will not 
boil up again. This will make one cupful apiece. 

COCOA 

Cool drinks are most welcomed in hot weather, 
and several kinds are quite nice for little girls 
to make. Iced cocoa requires for each person 
142 



SANDWICHES AND DRINKS 

half a glass of milk and half a glass of water, 
heated to the boiling point. Mix in a cup a 
round teaspoonful of cocoa with one round spoon- 
ful of sugar, and dissolve with the hot milk. 
Then put together in the kettle, boil gently sev- 
eral minutes, and flavor with a drop or two of 
vanilla before taking from the fire. After cool- 
ing, place on ice, and when ready to serve, pour 
in glasses over ice, and cover the top with sweet- 
ened whipped cream. Delicious hot, however. 

GRAPE JUICE 

Grape- juice is the most nourishing kind of a 
fruit drink, and every family ought to put up 
enough in the fall when grapes are plentiful and 
cheap to last all winter. First pick the fruit 
from the stem, wash and put on in water enough 
to cover. Cook until the grapes lose their form, 
put in a jelly-bag, and let them hang overnight. 
Next day measure, and put on to boil with half 
as much sugar. Cook for five minutes and put 
at once into air-tight bottles. When ready to 
serve, either dilute with a small quantity of water 
or 1 pour on chopped ice 

LEMONADE 

A most refreshing beverage on a very warm 
143 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

day is a lemonade made from the juice of two 
lemons, a half cupful of sugar and eight glasses 
of water, to which is added the pulp of a small 
grapefruit that has been removed with a sharp- 
edged teaspoon. Fill up glasses with shaved ice. 

FRUIT SYRUPS 

During the canning season often a small quan- 
tity of rich juice will be lefb. If this is strained 
through a cloth and bottled boiling hot, it will 
make a splendid drink, diluted with water and 
served iced. 



1M 



CHAPTER XVII 



A Few More Desserts 




Marshmallow Cream 

before closing, let us consider some simple 
every day desserts that every little cook should 
know how to make. And first comes 



BREAD PUDDING 

For a small family, take a quart baking dish, 
cover the bottom with broken bread, sprinkle with 
145 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

raisins or currants, dot with tiny lumps of but- 
ter, and then repeat the process. Over this sec- 
ond layer pour a custard made by beating very 
light two eggs, adding two cups of milk, a pinch 
of salt, half a cupful of sugar, and a little grated 
nutmeg. Bake until a light brown on top, and 
serve with, cream and sugar. 

BROWN BETTY 

Butter thin slices of bread, line the bottom of 
the pudding dish, add a layer of sliced apples, 
sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and repeat 
these layers until the dish is full. Cover with a 
tin lid and bake twenty minutes, then remove lid 
and leave until brown on top. The cover is nec- 
essary to keep in the moisture, as the juice of 
the apples is the only liquid. Serve with cream 
and sugar, or hot sauce. 

COTTAGE PUDDING 

Cream one-third of a cup of butter with three- 
fourths of a cup of sugar, add one egg, beaten 
very light, one cup of milk, and two cups of 
flour sifted with two teaspoonfuls of baking pow- 
der. Stir thoroughly and bake in a shallow pan. 
Cut in squares and serve hot, with hot chocolate 
or lemon sauce. 

146 



A FEW MORE DESSERTS 

LEMON SAUCE 

Make a syrup by boiling for five minutes one 
cup of sugar with one-quarter cup of water and 
a teaspoonful of butter. Removing from the 
fire, add the strained juice of half a lemon. 

FRUIT BATTER PUDDING 

Take one cup of flour, half a teaspoonful of 
salt, and one-half teaspoonful baking-powder, 
sifted well, half a cupful of sugar, and stir to a 
smooth batter with half cup of milk. Add one 
tablespoonful of melted butter, and two eggs, 
beaten light, then pour into a buttered pudding 
dish over two cupfuls of fresh fruit, either berries, 
sliced apples, bananas or peaches, and bake 
slowly half an hour. Serve immediately with hot 
pudding sauce, flavored with nutmeg. 

SPONGE CAKE 

Beat very light the yolks of three eggs, add 
one cup of sugar, half a cup of cold water, one 
and one-half cups of flour sifted several times 
with two scant teaspoonfuls of baking powder, 
flavor with half a teaspoonful of lemon extract, 
and lastly fold in the stiff whites. Bake in a 
sheet from thirty to forty minutes. 
147 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 




Charlotte Russe 

CHARLOTTE RUSSE 

Cut sponge cake into narrow strips, or use 
lady fingers, to line a glass bowl or individual 
glass cups as preferred. Fill center with 
whipped cream, for which directions are given 
elsewhere, and garnish top with Maraschino cher- 
ries. Prepare at the last moment before din- 
ner, as the cake is apt to become soaked if left 
standing long. 



MARSHMALLOW CREAM 

Whip thick half a pint of cream, add two table- 
148 



A FEW MORE DESSERTS 

spoonfuls of confectioner's sugar, one white of 
egg, beaten stiff, one-quarter of a pound of 
marsh-mallows cut in small pieces, two table- 
spoonfuls of chopped nuts, and half a teaspoon- 
ful of vanilla. Mix up lightly, and pile on the 
split halves of little cakes baked in heart-shaped 
pans. Place a Maraschino cherry in the center 
of each, pierce with a candy arrow, and pour 
a thickened cherry syrup around for a sauce. 
This dessert might also be called Bleeding Hearts. 

APPLE DUMPLINGS 

Sift two cups of flour with two teaspoon fuis 
of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt, 
work into it two tablespoonfuls of lard until 
" mealy," add one cup of milk, and stir with a 
fork as little as possible to make a smooth dough. 
Turn out on a floured board, roll out thin, cut 
in squares, place in the center of each half of 
a sour apple, sprinkle with a little sugar and 
ground cinnamon, cover with the dough, place 
in a pie pan and bake slowly half an hour. Serve 
with cream and sugar or hot sauce as preferred. 

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE 
INDIVIDUAL 

Make crust as directed for apple dumplings, 
149 



COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS 

turn on to a floured board, cut out with a biscuit 
cutter and bake twenty minutes in a hot oven. 
On removing, break each biscuit in half, butter, 
place the lower piece in a saucer, cover with 
sweetened crushed berries, put on the top half, 
and pour the crushed berries over all. Or, if 
preferred for a nice company dessert, drop a 
big spoonful of whipped cream on top of each 
biscuit, and stick a fine whole berry in the center. 

PRUNE WHIP 

Soak half a pound of prunes over night, then 
stew half an hour and sweeten with half a cupful 
of sugar. When cool, cut in small pieces or put 
through the colander, and stir in to the stiffly 
beaten whites of five eggs, with half a cupful of 
granulated sugar. Pour into a buttered pud- 
ding dish, bake half an hour in a slow oven, and 
serve at once, before it begins to go down, with 
thick cream. 

LEMON PIE 

Make paste as directed before, line a deep 
pie pan, prick the bottom to keep from blister- 
ing, and bake in a hot oven about ten minutes. 
Remove and fill immediately with the following 
preparations : 

150 



A FEW MORE DESSERTS 

Mix three tablespoon fuls of cornstarch with one 
cup of sugar, add two-thirds of a cup of boiling 
water, and one teaspoonful of butter, and cook 
five minutes, stirring all the time. Then pour 
on to the beaten yolks of two eggs, flavor with 
the strained juice and grated rind of one lemon, 
and fill the shell. Bake until the crust is brown, 
then cover with the meringue, and set back long 
enough to color lightly. 

MERINGUE 

Beat two whites very stiff, stir in slowly half 
a cupful of powdered sugar, and spread on with 
a knife or apply through a pastry tube. It will 
take some time to stir in the sugar slowly 
enough, but it must be well mixed, then baked 
until a delicate brown. 

APPLE PIE 

Line a pie tin with the crust, fill with sliced 
sour apples, sprinkle thickly with sugar, flavor 
with nutmeg, cover with the crust, making an 
opening in the center to emit the steam, press 
closely together and trim around the edge, and 
bake in a moderate oven about three-quarters of 
an hour. 

151 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Apple Dumplings 149 

Fritters 68 

Jelly 134 

Pie 151 

Sauce 120 

Pie 151 

Tapioca 104 

Baked 4 

Apples, Baked 4 

Asparagus 57 

Soup 27 

Bacon and Eggs 11 

Baked Beans 56 

Baked Ham 39 

Baking Preparations ... 81 

Banana Fritters 68 

Bar-Ie-Duc 16-134 

Beans, Baked 56 

Dried Lima 55 

Fresh Lima 59 

String 59 

Wax 59 

Beef, Dried 42 

Hash 41 

Roast 44 

Steak 40 

Stew, Brown 39 

Beets 60 

Beverages, Cocoa 142 

Coffee 142 

Fruit Syrup 144 

Grape Juice 143 

Lemonade 143 

Tea 141 

Biscuit. Baking Powder 3 

Light 94 

153 



PAGE 

Blue Fish 33 

Bread 93 

Pudding 145 

Brown Beef Stew 39 

Brown Betty 146 

Cabbage, Boiled 55 

Salad 21 

Cake, Chocolate 91 

Citron 90 

Devil's Food 91 

Directions for Mak- 
ing 84 

Ginger Bread 87 

Ginger Cookies 86 

Gold 90 

Nut 91 

Spice 87 

Sponge 147 

Tea 82 

White 88 

Candies. Chocolate 

Creams 128 

Cream Taffy 127 

Fudge (Chocolate). 129 
Fudge (Maple) ...127 

Molasses Taffv 129 

Nut Candy 125 

Stuffed Dates 130 

Canned Fruit. Berries. 133 

Cherries 133 

Currants 134 

Peaches 131 

Pears 131 

Plums 133 

Carrots 53 

Casserole of Rice 74 



154 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Cauliflower 60 

Charlotte Russe 148 

Chicken, Creamed 17 

Croquettes 18 

Salad 18 

Chocolate. Cake 91 

Creams 128 

Ice Cream 100 

Sauce (Hot) 106 

French 100 

Chops, Lamb 37 

Pork 38 

Christmas Decorations. .122 

Menu 118 

Citron Cake 90 

Custard 105 

Cocoa 142 

Codfish, Creamed 34 

Coffee 142 

Compote of Rice (with 

Fruit) 75 

Cookies, Ginger 86 

Corn Bread 5 

On the Cob 61 

Oysters (or Frit- 
ters) 62 

Cornstarch Pudding ....103 

Cottage Cheese 14 

Pudding 146 

Crab Apple Jelly 135 

Cranberry Sauce Ill 

Cream Sauce. (See 
White Sauce.) 

Cream Taffy .....127 

Croquettes, Chicken 18 

Cucumber Jelly 58 

Currant Bar-le-Duc 134 

Custard, Baked Citron.. 102 
Desserts. Apple Dump- 
lings 149 

Baked Custard (Cit- 
ron) 102 

Bar-le-Duc ..16 and 134 



PAGE 

Bread Pudding 145 

Brown Betty 146 

Charlotte Russe 148 

Chocolate Ice Cream.. 100 

Citron Custard 102 

Cornstarch Pudding.. 103 
Cottage Pudding, 

Lemon Sauce 146 

Floating Island 95 

French Ice Cream 100 

Fruit Batter Pudding.147 

Fruit Ice 100 

Fruit Jelly 97 

Lemon Ice 102 

Jelly 96 

Pie 150 

Marshmallow Cream.. 148 

Mince Pie Ill 

Nuts 99 

Plum Pudding 118 

Prune Whip 150 

Raisin Tapioca 104 

Rice Pudding 76 

Strawberry Mousse... 101 
Strawberry Shortcake. 149 

Tapioca Custard 105 

Raisin 104 

Whipped Cream 98 

Devil's Food 91 

Dressing the Turkey ... .109 

Dried Beef 42 

Dumplings, Apple 149 

Eggs. Boiled 7 

Creamed 9 

Devilled 10 

Omelets 8 

Poached 8 

Scrambled 10 

Entrees. Apple Fritters. 6^ 

Banana Fritters 68 

Chicken Croquettes. 18 
Compote of Rice... 75 
Macaroni 77 



INDEX 



155 



PAGE 

Pie 78 

With Cheese 77 

With Tomatoes... 78 
Rice Casserole ... 74 
Stuffed Peppers.. 16 

Finnan Haddie 33 

Fish. Blue 33 

Cakes 33 

Codfish 34 

Halibut Steak.... 32 
Mackerel (Salt).. 36 

Perch 31 

Salmon, Creamed. 70 

Sardines 71 

Smelts 31 

Smoked 34 

Trout 31 

Weak 33 

White 33 

Sturgeon 34 

Floating Island 95 

French Dressing 19 

French Ice Cream 100 

Fritters. Apple 68 

Banana 68 

Frosting. (See Icing.) 
Fruit Batter Pudding.. 147 

Combinations 136 

Ice 100 

Jelly 97 

Syrups 144 

Fudge (Chocolate) 129 

Maple 127 

Garnishes. (Soup) 29 

Ginger Bread 87 

Cookies 86 

Gold Cake 90 

Grape Jelly 135 

Juice 143 

Green Pepper' Salad 22 

Griddle Cakes 6 

Ham, Baked, Southern 
Style 39 



PAGE 

Halibut, Smoked 34 

Steak 32 

Hard Sauce 119 

Hash 41 

Hot Sauce 120 

Ice. Lemon 102 

Fruit 100 

Ice Cream, Chocolate. . .100 
Strawberry Mousse. 101 

Icing, Chocolate 89 

Cocoa 86 

White Boiled 90 

White Uncooked... 85 

Jelly. Apple 134 

Crab Apple 135 

Grape 135 

Lamb Chops 37 

Pie 42 

Lemonade 143 

Lemon Ice 102 

Jelly 96 

Pie 150 

Sauce 147 

Lettuce Sandwiches 140 

Lima Beans. Dried.... 55 

Fresh 59 

Lobster. Creamed 70 

Salad 70 

Macaroni, with Cheese . . 77 

With Tomatoes 78 

Pie 78 

Mackerel. Salt 36 

Maple Fudge 127 

Marketing 108 

Marmalade 136 

Marshmallow Cream .... 148 

Meat Sandwiches 139 

Menu for Christmas 118 

Thanksgiving 107 

Meringue 151 

Milk Toast 69 

Mince Meat HI 

Molasses Taffy 129 



156 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Muffins 6 

Nuts 99 

Cake 91 

I Candy 125 

\ Cheese Crackers 15 

Salted 130 

Onions. Creamed 56 

Baked 57 

Omelet. Cheese 8 

Chicken 8 

Green Corn 8 

Garnishing 8 

Ham 8 

Plain 8 

Rice 8 

Oysters. Creamed 66 

Fried 67 

Half Shell 121 

Scalloped 66 

Parsnips 54 

Pastry. Plain 112 

Peaches. Canned 131 

Pears. Canned 131 

Peas 59 

Perch 31 

Pies. Apple 151 

Lemon 150 

Mince Ill 

Pie Crust 112 

Plain Pastry 112 

Plums 133 

Plum Pudding. 118 

Pork and Beans 56 

Pork Chops 38 

Potatoes. Baked 48 

Boiled 45 

Cheese 48 

Creamed 47 

Fried 49 

Hashed 49 

Lyonnaise 48 

Mashed 46 

Salad 65 



PAGE 

Scalloped 50 

Stuffed 49 

Preserving (Fruit) 131 

Puddings. Bread 145 

Brown Betty 146 

Citron Custard 102 

Cornstarch. 103 

Cottage 146 

Custard Baked 102 

Fruit Batter 147 

Plum 118 

Prune Whip 150 

Rice 76 

Tapioca. Apple. . . . 104 

Raisin 104 

Custard 105 

Raspberry Jam 134 

Rice Casserole of 74 

Compote 75 

Cups 74 

Fried 75 

Plain Boiled 73 

Pudding 76 

Roast Beef 44 

Salads. Cabbage 21 

Cooked Vegetable. . . 21 

Chicken 18 

Fruit 21 

Fresh Vegetable 20 

Green Pepper 22 

Lobster 70 

Potato 65 

Salmon 70 

Shrimp 70 

Tomato Jelly 121 

Vegetable 20 

Waldorf 22 

Salad Dressing. Boiled. 19 

French 19 

Sour Cream 21 

Salmon. Creamed 70 

Salad 70 

Smoked Si 



INDEX 



157 



PAGE 

Salted Nuts 130 

Sandwiches. Brown 

Bread 140 

Chicken 139 

Cracker 140 

Ham 139 

Lettuce 140 

Meat 139 

Olive and Cheese... 140 

Sardine Canape 71 

Sauce. Meat, Brown... 17 

White 17 

Pudding. Hard 119 

Hot 120 

Hot Chocolate. 106 

Lemon 147 

Setting a Christmas 

Table 122 

Shell Fish. Lobster 

Creamed 70 

Salad 70 

Oysters Fried 67 

Half Shell 121 

Scalloped 66 

Shrimps. Creamed 70 

Salad 70 

Smelts 31 

Smoked Fish 34 

Soups. Asparagus 27 

Black Bean 28 

Bouillon 24 

Celery 26 

Consomme, Plain ... 24 

Italian 25 

Rice 25 

Macaroni 25 

Pea 27 

Potato 27 

Pleasing Varieties . . 25 
Stock 23 



PAGE 

Tomato, Cream 28 

Vegetable 23 

Sour Cream Dressing... 21 

Spice Cake 87 

Sponge Cake 147 

Squash 54 

Steak, Beef 40 

Veal, with parsley . • 38 
Stew, Brown Beef...'... 39 
Strawberries. Shortcake.149 

Strawberry Mousse 101 

String Beans 59 

Stuffed Dates 130 

Peppers 16 

Stuffing. Drv 110 

Moist ..* 110 

Oyster 110 

Sage 110 

Sturgeon. Smoked 34 

Sweet Potatoes. Candied 50 

Tapioca. Apple 104 

Custard 105 

Raisin 104 

Tea 141 

Tea Cakes 82 

Thanksgiving Menu 107 

Tomatoes. Baked 61 

Jelly Salad 121 

Trout 31 

Turkey. Dressing a . . . . 109 

Turnips 53 

Veal Cutlets 38 

Steak, with Parsley. 38 

Weak Fish 33 

Welsh Rarebit 68 

Whipped Cream 98 

White Cake 88 

Fish 33 

White Sauce. (Cream 
Sauce.) 17 



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